I wanted spirals but got fettucine, lucky the goat cheese and pancetta sauce was so yum!

All i need to say is: delicious
Don't skimp on the sauce. This says it serves 6 people on my inspiration site... We had it between two of us. Very generous with sauce is always the key with pasta.
A few changes made by me.. I can't resist.

Sorry that the instructions are so vague - I forgot to keep track of quantities. Just do it by feel.

Fettucine

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

About 6 slices pancetta, chopped into pieces

White wine

1 small bunch asparagus, cut into little pieces

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tbsp lemon zest

Small log of goats cheese

Large handful rocket

In a pan heat the olive oil. Add the pancetta and cook until crisp. Turn down the heat and add the garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add a generous splash of white wine and the asparagus. Cook until the asparagus is bright green and tender.

Cook the fettucine until al dente. Reserve a cup of cooking water in case you need it later.

At the last minute stir the lemon zest and goats cheese into the sauce. Stir through the pasta with plenty of freshly ground pepper and salt to taste and the rocket. Season with lemon juice to taste.

This is also delicious with a bit of chilli. Add it into the sauce when you add the garlic. The kick it gives cuts through the sauce nicely.

Mumma's Beautiful Rolled Pork Loin with Crackling

Crackling.

You need high heat for crackling. Really high heat. It doesn't seem to matter whether you crackle at the beginning of cooking time, then turn down the heat, or crackle at the end once your meat is succulent.
Rules: make sure your meat is scored through the skin.
Buy meat with a good fat layer
Dry the skin thoroughly with a paper towel
Oil and salt the skin well
High heat = good crackle
Use a griller if the crackle hasn't happened and you think the meat is cooked underneath

This is a beautiful combination of pork with rich roast vegetables.
Adapted from Gourmet Traveller.

Take the stuffing to the butcher and get them to stuff for you

Serves 6

Ingredients

1.8kg piece of pork loin

3 small pink lady apples, halved horizontally

200g peeled chestnuts

12 shallots

1/2 cup sage leaves

350mL cider

Stuffing:

4 shallots, finely chopped

4 pink lady apples, coarsely chopped

125mL dry cider

50mL cider vinegar

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp coarsely torn sage leaves

Butternut pumpkin, cut into bite-sized pieces

For stuffing:

Heat 1tbsp olive oil and a good knob of butter in a pan, add shallot, cook gently until tender (4-5 mins). Add apple, cider, vinegar, sugar. Stir occasionally until apple is tender and mixture has caramelised and it thick (8-10 mins). Season well with salt and pepper. Leave to cool. Take to your butcher to stuff into your pork loin.

Preheat oven to 250C. Place pork in a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Place apple, chestnut, shallot, sage and pumpkin around base of pork. Pour in cider. Roast until crackling starts to form (30 mins). Turn down heat to 150C and cook for further 10-15 mins or until just cooked through.

Rest for 5 mins. Slice into thick pieces

The secret is ANCHOVIES - fettucine bolognese

Last day in Bunbury.

Not much food left in pantry...
Nothing fresh.
Found: Frozen mince, canned tomatoes, tomato paste, red wine, stock powder, onion, garlic....anchovies

Amazing

Best bolognese i have ever eaten, in less than 30 mins.
Imagine this with the benefit of another 30 mins slow simmering, a bit of pancetta, a bit of chilli to spice it up, some fresh herbs (I'm thinking basil and parsley) to jazz it up at the end. It would be unbeatable.

Buy some anchovies. Use them. Love them.

Honestly, the only secret to making this amazing is to melt the beautiful anchovies into the olive oil. It will smell really fishy. This is the flavour. Don't be scared, it is beautiful with the beef.

This will make enough sauce for about 4 people. Serve the pasta with a salad and you can stretch it further.

1/2 a large brown onion, chopped
2-3 cloves fresh garlic, finely chopped (I hate to say this but I had no fresh garlic so used a big heaped tsp of garlic from a jar!)
6-8 anchovies in oil - about 2 large tsp full
250-300g beef mince
2 tbsp tomato paste
A generous glug of red wine
1/2-1 can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp veg/beef/chicken stock powder
Freshly ground pepper

Grated parmesan cheese and cooked fettucine to serve

Gently soften the onion in a good couple of glugs of olive oil, you do not want them brown, just a very light golden, if you have pancetta add it now. Add the garlic and anchovies and turn down the heat. Mash the anchovies with a spoon and let them melt into the oil. At this stage I would add some freshly chopped chilli if I had any.

Turn up the heat and add the mince. Cook until brown. Add the tomato paste, the wine, chopped tomatoes, stock powder. Put a lid on it and then simmer gently until the sauce is thick and dark and delicious. This could be anything from 10 mins to 1 hour depending on how hungry you are. I left mine for about 10 mins and it was wonderful and thick and delicious.

Just before serving add lots of freshly ground pepper. Season with salt. Stir through any fresh herbs at this stage.

Please don't be scared of the anchovies.

Just jump in and try them.

They are the best little fish in the sea!

Tuna pasta like we used to make but better!

Tuna pasta should always be with spirals. Large spirals. I thought I had spirals, then when I got home I only had penne. Reasonable substitute but not quite the same.
I suppose if you can't get spirals you could try it with shells. (or penne was still delicious).

We used to make this as kids with just onion, tuna, tomato, oregano. We would always stir in a glob of philly cream cheese to cream it up at the last minute. I have fancied this up a touch.. but it still has the delicious honesty and simplicity of always. I had bought some spinach to chuck in to "health" it up - but decided against it because I didn't want to add too many flavours. You could add peas if you want to make it a complete meal with greens included.

I like it with parmesan cheese on top which goes against all the rules of cheese and seafood pasta. But parmesan is so salty and delicious so try it with parmesan!

This was pretty spicy. Spicy delicious. You could cut down the chilli if you want. But dinner without chilli is not so exciting.

Quick. Cupboard. Food. Delicious. Easy.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 brown onion, roughly chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced

1 long red chilli, finely sliced

2 tbsp of chopped oregano

3 whole anchovies

150g button mushrooms, sliced

A good glug of white wine

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 can of cherry tomatoes, drained

185g tin of tuna in springwater (get the best quality tuna you are happy to pay for - it really makes a difference)

2 tbsp chopped parsley

Glug of cream, scoop of philly cream cheese, scoop of mascarpone, scoop of sour cream

Spiral pasta, cooked

Gently saute the onion and chilli in olive oil until soft but not coloured. Turn down the heat and add the garlic, 1tbsp oregano and anchovies. Mash up the anchovies with your wooden spoon then cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until soft. Pour in the wine and reduce slightly. Add the tomato paste and cherry tomatoes. Cook for 10-15 minutes (or 5 if you are in a rush) until the flavours combine nicely. Add the tuna and break up gently, leave it in decent sized chunks. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until the tuna is warmed through. At the last minute you can melt in your creaminess, add your remaining herbs and mix well.

Serve in a big bowl mixed up with your pasta. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Malfatti with tomato and basil (minus the lemon)

I have been wanting to make these little bundles of delicious for months now.

They are beautiful. Light parcels of ricotta and spinach with a fresh tomato sauce.
The sauce was meant to have lemon in it. Which I managed to just leave on the counter and forget to add to the tomato sauce.

The recipe specified firm ricotta. I was very upset when I opened my tub and found it was soft ricotta. The mixture ended up gluggy and thick. I was not impressed. I persevered. Instead of "rolling into dumplings" I just dropped spoonfuls of mixture into rapidly boiling water. They actually worked! So if you get firm ricotta you can form them into little balls. If you get soft ricotta you can try dropping little spoonfuls into the boiling water.

Serves 4

400g silverbeet (about 1 large bunch), trimmed and washed thoroughly

500g firm ricotta cheese

4 eggs

50g parmesan cheese, finely grated (plus extra to serve)

50g plain flour

Blanch the silverbeet until tender (I microwaved it for 1-2 minutes). Refresh, drain well, squeeze out excess liquid. Chop coarsely.

In a bowl mix the silverbeet, ricotta, eggs, parmesan and flour. Season well with salt and pepper. Boil a large pot of water. If you have firm ricotta roll small walnut sized dumplings. Roll in semolina flour. Otherwise you can drop little tablespoons of mixture into the boiling water. Cook a few at a time until firm and they float to the surface (2-3 minutes). Drain well with a slotted spoon. Add to tomato sauce, gently stir to combine and serve scattered and serve scattered with parmesan and basil.

Tomato Sauce

Use your favourite simple tomato sauce. Here is the one I made. I can't resist some anchovies in my tomato sauce. A splash of wine wouldn't have gone astray either.

Large glug of olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, sliced

4 anchovies

2 tbsp tomato paste

4 large very ripe tomatoes, chopped

Large handful of basil

Gently fry the onion in olive oil. Add the garlic and anchovies. Cook very gently until softened. Add the tomato paste and tomatoes. Put a lid on it and cook gently for 10-20 minutes until beautiful and soft and reduced.

Add salt and pepper to taste. At the last minute throw in the basil.

You could add the zest of one lemon to the sauce. This is the step that I forgot.

pasta in a dish with eggplant, mushrooms and bacon

Thanks to "Dana Treat Yourself" for this recipe

Delicious
Easy
Now I have dinner for the next four days
I had no wine for my tomato sauce so I used some beer - quite a tasty substitution

1 eggplant, chopped into 1.5cm cubes
4 rashers of bacon, chopped into batons
1 onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 bag of button mushrooms - between 8-10
1 quantity of tomato sauce or your own favourite tomato pasta sauce
1 cup ricotta cheese

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

Parmesan cheese

Penne pasta

In a non-stick frying pan saute the eggplant until lightly golden and nice and soft. Remove to a plate.
In the same pan saute the bacon until nice and crispy. Turn down the heat and add the onion. Cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook for a minute longer. Add the mushrooms and cook until soft. Add 1tsp chopped thyme and 1tbsp chopped basil. Season well with salt and pepper. Remove to a plate.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water until al dente. Mix the pasta with the tomato sauce until coated. Pour into a lasagne dish. Layer mushrooms and eggplant on top. Cover with any remaining tomato sauce. Sprinkle with a layer of grated parmesan cheese.

In a bowl mix together the ricotta cheese, egg and milk and 1/2 cup grated parmesan.. Season well with salt and pepper. Pour over the pasta mix. Top with extra grated parmesan. Place in the oven and cook for 20-30 mins or until golden on top.

It can be refrigerated before cooking or after cooking and reheated in the oven.

Tomato Sauce
1 brown onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
Stems from a handful of basil, chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
A good glug of beer
400g can chopped tomatoes
Leaves from three sprigs of thyme
Large handful basil leaves, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Gently saute the onion until soft. Add the garlic and basil stalks and cook until soft and delicious. Season with salt and pepper. Add the tomato paste and saute for 1-2 mins until fragrant. Stir in the beer and then reduce slightly. Add the tomatoes and cook for 20-30 mins or until beautiful and reduced and yummy. At the last minute stir in the basil leaves and season again with salt and pepper.

red wine and rabbit at mojos (in bunbury)

Wednesday night. Tired of work. Too lazy to cook. Solution = organise dinner at Mojos in town.
Looks nice from outside.
Lots of gold plates on the walls.
Boasting reviews in Gourmet Traveller ...
The rest is for us to decide.

Wine: 2008 Turkey Flat Shiraz --> delicious

Dinner: Fettucine with confit rabbit ragout with cherry tomatoes and mushrooms --> delicious
I suspect someone snuck some truffle oil into this pasta - it was beautiful

Sommelier - very helpful

Waitstaff - attentive

Price - appropriately priced

Will we revisit - yes

Tempting offers for next time:

Blue manna crab omelets
Fresh shucked oysters
Pork belly and prawn salad

and. so. on.

Chilli chilli mahi mahi spaghetti

Adam caught lots of beautiful Mahi Mahi.

Day 1: Sashimi. Fresh mahi mahi dipped in horseradish and soy sauce. Amazing. Best sashimi ever.

Day 2: BBQ mahi mahi. Beautiful.

1 week later: defrost frozen mahi mahi for chilli mahi mahi spaghetti. Super hot. Super flavourful. Super delicious. Substitute any other firm white fish (or prawns, squid, mussels...)

1 large fillet fish chopped into nice large chunks - it'll break up a bit when cooked so cut it a bit bigger than the size you want to eat

3 birdseye chillies, finely chopped

1 long red chilli, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely sliced

4 anchovy fillets, chopped

2 fresh tomatoes, finely diced

1/2 cup white wine (we used beer as all out of wine! - still delicious)

1/2 cup chopped basil

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Plenty of salt and pepper

Fettucine or spaghetti - use nice quality pasta for this. Cook according to packet directions in salted water

In a pan heat a good couple of glugs of nice olive oil and about 1 tbsp butter over a gentle heat. Add the garlic, chillies and anchovy fillets. Cook nice and gently for 2-3 minutes or until the anchovies melt - give them a bit of a squash, and the garlic and chillies are nice and fragrant. Add the tomatoes and cook for another few minutes or until nice and soft. Add the wine and the fish. Cook gently for 3-5 minutes or until the fish is just cooked. Season well with salt and pepper (might already be salty from anchovies).

Just before serving stir through the pasta, the herbs and another good glug of olive oil. Don't add too much pasta for the amount of sauce you get - you want a good sauce to pasta ratio!

You will enjoy this - it is delicious.

Make sure you are generous with the olive oil and butter and seasoning!

It is actually pretty hot - so you could potentially tame back the chilli if you need to. But I like it like this.

Goulash in summer... why not?

I was hungry. I felt like goulash. Ignore the fact that it has been >30C every day for the past 2 months (with a few exceptions). Goulash can be summery!

Beautiful.
My housemate's girlfriend enjoyed this so much she swallowed a piece of beef whole. This piece of beef got stuck in her throat and was removed 36hrs later under general anaesthetic via endoscopy. Is this a compliment or an insult? I choose to think it was so delicious she couldn't wait to chew to swallow it - optimistic!
Anyway, I thought is was beautiful.

Serves 6

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil

4 onions, thinly sliced

700g beef shin or blade, cut into 3cm pieces

Seasoned plain flour for dusting

400g can Italian tomatoes

1 clove garlic, finely sliced

1 tsp caraway seeds

1 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tbsp hungarian paprika (not smoked Spanish paprika)

4 cloves

2 fresh bay leaves

1 stubbie stout bear

Heat half the olive oil in a large casserole dish over medium heat, add onion. Cook until very soft and golden brown (20-25 mins). Do not get any black bits on the onions, but be patient and wait until they are dark brown and sweet and caramelised.

Buy a whole piece of beef and cut into 3cm chunks. Dust the beef in seasoned flour. In a separate frying pan heat the remaining oil until hot. Add the meat to the frying pan and cook until nicely browned all over. Add meat to casserole pot.

Add tomatoes, garlic, paprika, caraway seeds, cayenne pepper, cloves and bay leaves to the pan. Season with salt and pepper and stir over medium heat for 4-5 minutes until tender, breaking up the tomatoes. Add the beer. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until meat is very tender - 1-1 1/2 hours.

Season to taste.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and scattered with chives and dill over mashed potato.

Do not omit the sour cream, chives and dill - these really take the dish from special to amazing.

Enjoy!

get your salsa on and grab a lamb lollipop

Salsa for French-trimmed Lamb Chops

1 1/2 tbsp good quality olive oil

1 onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 punnets cherry tomatoes (400g total) chopped in half

2 tbsp chopped olives - use really nice kalamata olives

2 tbsp basil, sliced

160g feta cheese, crumbled

Fry the onion gently in the olive oil with salt and pepper until soft but not golden. Add the garlic and cook for a minute longer before tumbling in the cherry tomatoes. Add a dash of water to wet the mix, put a lid on top and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until all soft and mushy and super sweet.

Stir in the olives and basil just before serving. Sprinkle with feta cheese and drizzle with more olive oil.

Dip your beautiful lamb chops into the salsa and enjoy.

Get your Maroc in this, Chick ... (Moroccan chicken)

Moroccan Chicken

I hate errands. Everyone hates errands. But they are kinda fun when you have someone else to do them with.

I managed to drag sister to the post office and on my errands today. We walked to the shops and I left her outside the post office (they are not usually such exciting places). I found her outside the post office sitting in the sun waiting for me with Leonardo. We spent a good 20 mins sitting on the ground outside the post office soaking up the late-winter sun. So lucky to live in a place with winter-sun.

I also managed to get her to help me choose dinner ideas... She wanted fish... I didn't think Dad would pay for fish so we had to go for something else.

Chicken Maroc? Ok. Deal

Thanks Epicurious app on my iPhone. Epicurious credits the recipe to chef Lafridi from Jnane Tamsna (wherever that is!). I did (of course) have to make a couple of changes. The couscous combination is my own invention.

This is actually really good! Wow. It is also pretty cheap if you have the spices in your cupboard already. Chicken thighs - tender and cheap and the best cut from the chicken.

There were three of us and a lot of leftovers - this would easily make enough for 4.

For the chicken...

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt

Olive oil

6 boneless chicken thighs, chicken marylands or a whole chicken cut into joints

1 tbsp buter

1 red onion, sliced into 1cm slices

4 garlic cloves, sliced thinly

1/2 bunch coriander, chopped (plus 1tbsp extra to serve)

1/2 bunch parsley, chopped (plus 1tbsp extra to serve)

2 tbsp good quality honey

1/2 cup Turkish apricots, cut in half

1/3 cup whole blanched almonds, toasted

In a bowl combine the chicken, the cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, salt and pepper and a good glug of olive oil to moisten. Massage the spices into the chicken. Leave to marinate in the fridge for 1-2 hours or longer if you have the time.

In a large heavy based casserole dish melt the butter and a glug of olive oil. Brown the chicken on all sides (you may need to do this in batches). Return all the chicken to the pan and add the onion. Cook for 5-6 mins or until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes longer. Add the coriander, parsley and 1/2 cup water. Put the lid on top and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the chicken is tender and cooked through.

In the meantime, place the apricots, 1 cup of water and the honey in a small saucepan. Simmer gently until the liquid is syrupy, about 10-15 minutes.

When the chicken is cooked, add the apricot and honey mix and the blanched almonds. Scatter with reserved herbs and serve with couscous and some greens (we had broccoli, but a salad or other greens would work well too).

For the Couscous...

1 cup couscous

1 tsp stock powder

1 knob of butter

2 orange sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1.5cm dice

1 white sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1.5cm dice

1/2 head of garlic, divided into cloves, but left unpeeled

Moroccan seasoning (I used masterfood seasoning)

1/2 bunch coriander, chopped

1/2 bunch parsley, chopped

1/4 cup chopped apricots

1/4 cup chopped sultanas

1/3 cup blanched roasted almonds, chopped

In a heatproof bowl combine the couscous, stock powder, butter and 1.5 cups boiling water. Cover with glad wrap and set aside.

Place the sweet potato and garlic on a baking sheet and sprinkle generously with the spice powder, pepper and olive oil. Roast in a 200C oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and soft.

Fluff the couscous with a fork. Mix together the couscous and all remaining ingredients. Season well with pepper and salt. Serve with the chicken.

To roast almonds...

Place almonds in a small pan over a low flame. Cook until lightly golden - do not burn!

mmm yum pasta with clams and chorizo with cider and make sure you have some bread to mop it up

this is seriously good

Make it now. Don't worry if it isn't dinner time, you will enjoy this any time of the day.

Make it for someone you love or someone you want to love you because it is that good.

Thank you again to Gourmet Traveller for this recipe.

As usual I cannot stick to the recipe, so have posted it with the changes I made.

I halved the amount of clams to make this for two, but kept the other ingredients in the original ratio to end up with a delicious soupy pasta. The sauce needs to be mopped up with bread. The flavour is too good to waste.

I made it for two people, but there was enough for a third person (male) and I think he was satisified.

Serves 2 generously

2 tbsp olive oil

1 spanish onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 tsp chilli flakes

1 fresh hot chorizo sausage, chopped

2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped

Juice of half a lemon

3oomL cider (we used pear cider)

600g clams, soaked for 15 minutes in fresh water

1/4 cup parsley, roughly chopped

Pepper and salt, to taste

Cooked Angel hair pasta

Fresh bread and butter, to serve

Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Gently saute the onion, garlic and chilli until softened. Add the chorizo. Cook until brown (5-7 minutes). Add the tomatoes and cook until thickened (6-8 minutes). Add the lemon juice, cider and clams. Bring to the boil, put a lid on top, then cook for 6-9 minutes or until the clams are open. Stir through the pasta and parsley and enjoy.

Slow cooked Andalucian Lamb with Saffron

This is great! (That is all I need to say about this one)

From Gourmet Traveller.

Serves 6 generously

1 tsp saffron

4 cloves

8 black peppercorns

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

4 cloves garlic

2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

1 tbsp sea salt

6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1.5 kg lamb leg, cut into 4cm chunks

1 green capsicum, cut into thick slices

1 yellow capsicum, cut into thick slices

2 onions, sliced

2 carrots, sliced

2 tomatoes, chopped

3 potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges

200mL red wine

Steamed rice and vegies to serve

Pound saffron, cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, garlic, parsley and salt in a mortar with a pestle into a rough paste. Add 100mL warm water.

Heat oil in a large casserole dish over medium heat. Fry the lamb in batches for 5-7 minutes or until nicely brown on all sides. Remove to a large bowl.

Fry capsicum, onion, carrot in a saucepan for 10-12 minutes or until softened. Add tomato and cook for 5 minutes.

Add lamb, spice and water mix and red wine. Bring to the boil, cover, and simmer for 1 hour over low heat. Add more water as necessary.

Add the potatoes and cook for 20-30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender, lamb is cooked and the sauce is thickened.

Serve sprinkled with fresh flat leaf parsley, with steamed rice and greens

McKenzie's ham and vegetable soup like a minestrone

Who is McKenzie? I have no idea... but their "Italian style soup mix" does the trick for me. A packet of dried "peas, beans and legumes".

This recipe is one of my favourites. It comes off the back of the packet of peas/beans/legumes that form the base of the soup. You can go from nothing to warm tummy soup in about 2 hours (most of that time is spent sitting around).

This makes a gigantic pot of soup.. probably enough for lots of people (I'm bad at estimating volumes so I'm not going to try.. just trust me that this is one huge pot of soup)

Be careful with your knife skills - however nicely you cut all your vegies will determine how nice the final dish looks.

1 bacon hock

1 pack of bacon bones (I think I had about 8 small bones)

375g Italian Style soup mix (or mixed dried lentils, chickpeas, beans)

1 large brown onion, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

2 carrots, diced

4 tbsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 cans chopped tomatoes

3 cups cabbage, chopped (about 1/2 a small cabbage)

4 tbsp brown rice

3/4 cup small shell pasta

Salt and pepper

Parmesan cheese and fresh bread, to serve

In a saucepan place the soup mix and the bacon bones and hock. Cover with 5 cups of water. Bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 45 minutes with the lid on. Keep an eye on it and add more water as necessary.

Remove the bones from the mixture. Carefully remove all the meat off the bones, removing all fat and skin. Cut the meat into small dice and set aside.

Skim the fat and scum off the top of the bean mixture water.

In a large saucepan gently saute the onion in 2 tbsp olive oil for 3-4 minutes. Add the celery, carrot, parsley and garlic. Saute for another 5-10 minutes or until the vegies are soft.

Add the canned tomatoes, reserved bacon meat, cabbage, rice, pasta bean mixture and liquid and 3 cups of water. Simmer gently for 20-30 minutes or until the vegies are tender.

Thin with water as necessary. Season very generously with pepper and salt.

Serve with parmesan cheese and bread and butter.

fish pie is nice in rainy cold windy weather

This is my rendition of Jamie Oliver's fish pie. From his ministry of food book.

Delicious.

It sounds strange and looks strange before it is cooked. It is great once cooked.

Eat it in cold weather with tomato sauce.

Maybe put some green stuff on the plate to go with it - salad, beans, peas.. your choice (or just be lazy and eat pie by itself)

I do not like food that has had all the flavour sucked out of it in the interests of being healthy, gluten free, lactose free etc. This meal is actually super healthy and doesn't sacrifice flavour for the healthy factor. Yay. It is also gluten free (amazing).

Serves 6-8

300g salmon, skin removed, cut into bite sized chunks

300g smoked cod fillet, skin removed, cut into bite sized chunks

150g peeled and deveined prawns

1 carrot

1 bulb fennel

2 stalks celery

150g cheese (I used 80g cheddar and 70g parmesan), plus extra for sprinkling

1 tbsp grainy mustard

1 red chilli, roughly chopped

Zest of 2 lemons

Juice of 1 lemon

Handful of chopped flat leaf parsley

A large handful of baby spinach leaves

800g potatoes

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Cut the potatoes into chunks and put into a pot of salted water on the stove. Bring to the boil then simmer until tender. Drain well. Mash the potatoes, add a good glug of olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper.

Grate the carrot, celery, fennel and cheese. Mix with the mustard, chilli, lemon juice and zest, parsley, baby spinach and seafood.

Pile the mixture into a large casserole dish. Smooth out gently. Pour over the mashed potatoes. Make a nice spiky design on top - this will help it go crispy. Sprinkle over extra parmesan cheese.

Bake on a tray in the oven for 40 minutes or until cooked through. Yum.

Delicious - tender prosciutto pork and rhubarb with celeriac and cauliflower puree

Crisp salty prosciutto, tender garlicky-sage pork, tart rhubarb and celeriac and cauliflower puree. Hungry yet?

Trust Jamie Oliver to give us a simple, amazing recipe.

The pork is very flavoursome.

The celeriac and cauliflower puree was my addition! Jamie recommends potatoes, but I wanted something lighter. This puree is fantastic. Try it. For a weekend dinner, a dinner party, or if I was feeling gluttonous I would have added another couple of tablespoons of butter. It would also be delightful passed through a sieve to make it perfectly smooth. For a mid-week dinner all of this is unnecessary.

Serves 4 people

For the Pork and Rhubarb

2 pork fillets, trimmed

Large handful of fresh sage leaves

4 cloves of garlic

Salt and pepper, to taste

6 large (or 12 baby) rhubarb stalks, chopped into finger lengths

12 slices of prosciutto, thinly sliced

Olive oil

Bash up the garlic and a good pinch of salt of pepper in a mortar and pestle. Add the sage leaves and mash again. Add a good 4 tbsp of olive oil. Mix well. Mix with the pork in a plastic bag and massage well. Put in the refrigerator to marinate for 1 hour to 1 day. If you don't have the time, don't worry about the marinating.

Preheat the oven to 220C. Put the rhubarb into a baking tray and place the pork on top. Drape the prosciutto over the pork and drizzle with olive oil.

Wet and then scrunch up a piece of baking paper then lay it over the pork. Put in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and bake for a further 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the pork rest for 5 minutes. Slice the pork into pieces and enjoy.

Celeriac and Cauliflower Puree

Fairly amazing side dish. Wow.

The lady in the shop thought this was fennel - so i decided to look up a celeriac on the internet...

Celeriac - (Apium graveolens rapaceum), also known as celery root, turnip-rooted celery, knob celery. A kind of celery, grown as a root vegetable for its large and bulbous hypocotyl rather than for its stem and leaves. (thanks Wikipedia!)

This is probably enough for a side dish for up to 6 people

1 celeriac, peeled and chopped into 1cm dice

1/4 large cauliflower chopped into small pieces

1/2 cup milk

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste (a lot!)

Place the celeriac, cauliflower and milk in a large saucepan with a lid on. Bring the milk to the boil and then turn down the heat. Simmer gently until the celeriac and cauliflower are both tender and fragrant (10-15 minutes).

Pour into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add the butter and olive oil and blend more. Season generously with salt and pepper

perfect for freezing cold nights after greek school osso bucco

Veal shin braised in tomatoes with fresh gremolata on top.

Pretty amazing.

Conditions for this meal

1. cold outside (cold for me in Perth is 8.8 degrees celsius)

2. plenty of carbohydrates to mop up the juices - in the form of crusty bread, mashed potatoes, risoni, rice, polenta, risotto alla milanese (traditional accompaniment)

3. in no circumstance must you try to make this without the gremolata

For some reason we had no salad or vegetables with this. Mum didn't quite get around to getting any. Probably just a waste of space anyway! If you feel like you need something green try a very simple green salad or some green beans.

veal shin, sawn across the bone, 2 inch thick, 1 piece per person

1/2 cup white wine

3/4 cup stock - we used home-made chicken stock

2 cans of tomatoes (I always love the canned cherry tomatoes), most of the juice drained

Melt a good knob of butter in a glug of olive oil in a pot with a lid that will fit all your pieces of veal in one layer. Get the pan nice and hot. Add the meat and cook until brown on all sides.

Add the wine and cook for 10 minutes. Add the stock and tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Put the lid on, lower the heat and cook for 1.5-2 hours or until the meat is incredibly tender and falling off the bone. Season well with salt and pepper and serve sprinkled with gremolata with a side of your choice.

Gremolata

1 bunch of italian parsley, finely chopped

zest of one lemon

one clove of garlic, finely chopped

Mix together all ingredients, season with salt and pepper.

gently poached chicken with basil mayonaise, with fennel and orange salad for a person who has been on a plane for 24 hrs

This is a very special meal. Make it for someone you love. I made it for mum on her return from Greece. It is delicious.

For the Poached Chicken

1 free range chicken

250mL verjuice

2 carrots, roughly chopped

3 stalks of celery, roughly chopped

3 small onions, cut into quarters

1 head of garlic, cut in half

3 dried bay leaves, crumbled

Small handful of fresh thyme

Small handful of sage

Handful of basil stalks

Salt and pepper

Place all ingredients into a large stockpot. Cover with cold water. Bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 5 mintues. Turn off the heat and leave the chicken in the water until cool. Remove the chicken from the stock. Drain the vegies from the water and keep the stock for another use.

Basil Mayonaise

2 cups of basil, tightly packed

3 egg yolks

1 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar

200mL olive oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

Blanch the basil for 30 seconds in boiling, salted water. Drain, refresh in cold water, drain well, squeeze out excess water. Pulse the basil in a food processor until finely chopped. Add the egg yolks and red wine vinegar and pulse again. With the motor running, add the olive oil in a very thin, steady stream until all incorporated. Season well with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Store in the refrigerator.

Fennel and Orange Salad

3 fennels, cut into wedges

Juice of half a lemon

2 oranges, zested, segmented, juice squeezed out of remaining pith and reserved

2 tbsp olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, finely sliced

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp verjuice

Handful of fresh mint leaves

Preheat the oven to 180C. Place the fennel in a roasting tray, drizzle with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake for 30 mins or until tender and lightly golden.

In a small pan, gently heat the oil. Add the zest and garlic and cook until the garlic colours gently. Remove from the heat and add the orange segments, juice, vinegar and verjuice. Pour over the fennel. Decorate with torn mint leaves.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

ignore the recipe book asiany beefy salad - this is very nice

The recipe wanted me to make the dressing with plum sauce and balsamic vinegar. I obliged, tasted it, hated it, and consequently made up my own dressing --> success.

The trick to this dish is to have really nice beef, cooked rare. Very fresh crisp vegies, and a good sauce.

You could also add grated carrot, beansprouts... any crispy vegetable.

Serves two

1 nice piece of steak - I used a big porterhouse

Iceberg lettuce, shredded

Cucumber, cut into pieces

Generous handful of mint leaves, roughly chopped

Roasted, unsalted cashew nuts, roughly chopped

Chopped red chilli - as much/little as you desire

Wide flat rice noodles - cooked as per packet and left to cool slightly

Dressing

3 tbsp plum sauce

2 tsp sichuan pepper seasoning powder (i think it is szechuan pepper, paprika, salt, chilli)

White part of 4 spring onions, finely chopped

1 red chilli, finely chopped

Juice of one lime

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp soya sauce

Cook the steak on a very hot griddle until nicely charred on the outside, and still nice and rare in the middle. Leave to rest for at least five minutes, then slice into pieces.

Assemble the bowls by layering the lettuce, cucumber and noodles. Spoon some dressing over the noodles to moisten. Top with the Steak, nuts, mint and chilli and then more dressing.

If you want to get fancy you can have extra bowls on the table with more dressing, nuts, chilli and mint so people can season to taste. It would also be nice with a squeeze of lime at serving time.

Delicious

This would also make a really nice filling for fresh rice paper rolls.

beef in blankets ... because cabbage rolls sounds unappealing

Stuffed cabbage rolls courtesy of - you guesed it - smitten kitchen.

Pretty delicious.

Not excessively time consuming.

Unfortunately not looking amazingly appetizing. Must find a way to make them look pretty.

But tasting delicious - most important feature.

Where do cabbage rolls come from? Cabbage makes me think Germany, Russia... so maybe Eastern European? No idea

Serves 4-6 generously

1 cabbage (she said savoy, but I used a normal old green cabbage - savoy would have been prettier)

2 small brown onions, finely chopped

2 parsnip, grated

2 carrots, grated

2 sticks of celery, finely chopped

500g beef mince

3/4 cup white rice

3 tbsp tomato paste

Plenty of salt and pepper

Good home-made simple tomato sauce for poaching (tomato, garlic, butter, olive oil)

Green salad to serve

Cut the core out of the cabbage. Bring a large pot of water to the boil with a good pinch of salt. Put in the cabbage, turn off the heat and leave for 10 minutes. Drain the cabbage well.

Soften the onion in olive oil over a low heat. Add the parsnip, carrot, celery. Cook until soft and smelling delicious.

In a large bowl, mix together the onion mixture, mince, rice and tomato paste and season well with salt and pepper.

To make the rolls. Cut the core out of the leaves and roll up about 1tbsp of meat mixture. Try to roll it in the same way you would roll a spring roll.

Layer the rolls in a wide-based pan with a lid. They can be in two layers. Pack them in tightly. Pour in 1/2 cup of water and your tomato sauce to cover.

Put on the stove, bring to a simmer, put the lid on, and cook gently for 45 minutes. Keep an eye on it and top it up with water if it looks a bit dry. Be careful with it - burnt cabbage is horrendous.

Enjoy