A Vegetarian Italian Feast for Four

Baci di Ricotta - Ricotta Kisses

Mmm... check out that bowl of deliciousness: Nigella's baci di ricotta (from Feast). An airy-light ricotta batter, deep fried til crisp and doused with icing sugar. Heaven!

I sometimes think I use dinner parties as an excuse to go crazy with the calories - and by way of example, look at my pork belly and pavlova; the richest chocolate cake I've ever eaten; salted butter caramel ice-cream with salted candied peanuts, peanut butter fudge sauce; a roast rack of pork followed by triple-chocolate custard tarts. Nothing wrong with that - if you're going to indulge with a decadent treat, better to share it around rather than have it all to yourself!

However, when this particular dinner party rolled around, I was really in the mood for something altogether lighter, and I wanted to include lots of delicious green vegetables. This wasn't out of any dietary concern or self-imposed restriction - y'all know I'm not a dieter! - but simply because I felt like a less-filling meal, one that wouldn't have us all popping our trouser buttons afterwards! I also really enjoy vegetables, and wanted them to be the star of the show. Dessert was deep-fried, but the baci di ricotta were in small quantities, and weren't hugely filling, like say, a cheesecake or a chocolate cake might be. Decadence without the food coma. (Besides, I feel that all the green vegetables negate all the deep-fried, amirite?)

A Vegetarian Italian Feast for Four

Broad Bean Bruschetta

Eggplant Involtini

My Favourite Green Salad

Baci di Ricotta

This recipes for this meal all came from Nigella's Feast, one of my favourite cookbooks. It's essentially the "Italian-Inspired Supper for Six" from the Meatless Feasts chapter, in reduced quantities, with Nigella's broad bean bruschetta instead of the Italianified guacamole, and a pimped up green salad on the side. (Recipe below!) The menu was a little time-consuming to put together, but these are some of my favourite recipes, so I was happy to devote the afternoon to cooking them.

Double-podded broad beans

Broad beans! I love, love, love broad beans! And although Nigella says you have to use fresh ones for this recipe, I've always used frozen ones and it turns out fabulously.

Sliced zucchini

I added grilled zucchini to Nigella's suggested side salad of baby spinach, pumpkin seeds and avocado. I used a mandolin to slice them, and was so surprised when they fell in such a pretty pattern!

Filling for the involtini

Now, as I've mentioned before, Nigella is super keen on involtini (grilled eggplant, wrapped around a filling, covered with tomato sauce, topped with cheese and baked), and has variations on this recipe in about half of her books. The involtini I made on this occasion weren't technically the ones in Feast, but rather a mash-up of all the different versions. For the filling, I used feta, parmesan, pine nuts, currants, egg, parsley and lemon zest, with bulghur wheat for added bulk.

Eggplant involtini

Rather than smothering the pretty little eggplant rolls in a jar of tomato passata, I made a proper tomato sauce by sautéing chopped onion and garlic in olive oil, adding some tinned crushed tomatoes and slowly cooking them until thickened. Time consuming, yes, but I love tomato sauce, and it can all be done in advance, and just baked when you want to eat.

Let's have a look at the meal! Look how green the broad bean bruschetta is. I love it!

Broad bean bruschetta

I served it with toasted light rye bread. (I wish I could say I chargrilled these slices, but I literally just toasted them in the toaster). Looking back at the pictures now, I see it was a pretty big pile of bread for four people as a starter - I must have been worried that we'd still be hungry, haha. (We only had about a slice each).

Broad bean bruschetta

Eggplant involtini

These involtini are soooo delicious - I love the pop of sweetness from the currants, the mushy eggplants and the toasty melted mozzarella.

My favourite green salad

Sometimes I make salads and they remain untouched, a virtuous but unnecessary adjunct to a complete meal, but this one went down really well - I think the additions of the grilled zucchini, toasted pumpkin seeds, avocado really made it very moreish. (And I'm sure the seeds and avocado added all sorts of heart-healthy fats - bonus!)

Dinner

And once all those lovely vegetables were eaten, it was time to deep-fry! It is a bit of work to have to cook dessert in the middle of a dinner party, but I thought it was actually a nice way to break up the evening - we all just headed into the kitchen to keep chatting while I prepared the baci. The batter takes just a minute to stir together, and the deep-frying process wasn't too difficult or scary, as I used a small saucepan keep the process manageable, and an oil themometer to take any guesswork out of the process. I love how they puff up into irregular little alien shapes!

Deep frying the baci

Baci di Ricotta

And if it was easy to make them, it was even easier to eat them! A thick dusting of icing sugar on top, a pot of tea on the side and... inhale!

My Favourite Green Salad
Adapted from an idea in Nigella Lawson's Feast

Ingredients
2 zucchini
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
120 grams baby spinach leaves
1 ripe avocado
Salt, pepper, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil

Method
Heat a griddle pan over a medium heat. Trim the ends of the zucchini and thinly slice lengthwise. (A mandolin is ideal). Brush each slice with olive oil on both sides and grill for a minute on each side, until cooked through and marked with and char marks. Remove to a plate. Sprinkle generously with salt and squeeze a little lemon juice over. Let cool completely before assembling the salad.
Toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry frying pan for a few minutes, until lovely and fragrant. (They don't really change colour, so use your nose to tell you when they're ready). Tip them out onto a plate to cool down.
When you are ready to eat, place the spinach leaves in a large bowl. Add the zucchini slices and half the pumpkin seeds.
Cut the avocado in half, and scoop out little pieces with a teaspoon. Add to the spinach and zucchini in the bowl. Squeeze more lemon juice over, to prevent the avocado pieces from browning. Drizzle generously with olive oil. Toss to combine, and add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with the remaining pumpkin seeds to serve.
Serves 4-6 as a side

Baci di Ricotta - Ricotta Kisses

Mmm... check out that bowl of deliciousness: Nigella's baci di ricotta (from Feast). An airy-light ricotta batter, deep fried til crisp and doused with icing sugar. Heaven!

I sometimes think I use dinner parties as an excuse to go crazy with the calories - and by way of example, look at my pork belly and pavlova; the richest chocolate cake I've ever eaten; salted butter caramel ice-cream with salted candied peanuts, peanut butter fudge sauce; a roast rack of pork followed by triple-chocolate custard tarts. Nothing wrong with that - if you're going to indulge with a decadent treat, better to share it around rather than have it all to yourself!

However, when this particular dinner party rolled around, I was really in the mood for something altogether lighter, and I wanted to include lots of delicious green vegetables. This wasn't out of any dietary concern or self-imposed restriction - y'all know I'm not a dieter! - but simply because I felt like a less-filling meal, one that wouldn't have us all popping our trouser buttons afterwards! I also really enjoy vegetables, and wanted them to be the star of the show. Dessert was deep-fried, but the baci di ricotta were in small quantities, and weren't hugely filling, like say, a cheesecake or a chocolate cake might be. Decadence without the food coma. (Besides, I feel that all the green vegetables negate all the deep-fried, amirite?)

A Vegetarian Italian Feast for Four

Broad Bean Bruschetta

Eggplant Involtini

My Favourite Green Salad

Baci di Ricotta

This recipes for this meal all came from Nigella's Feast, one of my favourite cookbooks. It's essentially the "Italian-Inspired Supper for Six" from the Meatless Feasts chapter, in reduced quantities, with Nigella's broad bean bruschetta instead of the Italianified guacamole, and a pimped up green salad on the side. (Recipe below!) The menu was a little time-consuming to put together, but these are some of my favourite recipes, so I was happy to devote the afternoon to cooking them.

Double-podded broad beans

Broad beans! I love, love, love broad beans! And although Nigella says you have to use fresh ones for this recipe, I've always used frozen ones and it turns out fabulously.

Sliced zucchini

I added grilled zucchini to Nigella's suggested side salad of baby spinach, pumpkin seeds and avocado. I used a mandolin to slice them, and was so surprised when they fell in such a pretty pattern!

Filling for the involtini

Now, as I've mentioned before, Nigella is super keen on involtini (grilled eggplant, wrapped around a filling, covered with tomato sauce, topped with cheese and baked), and has variations on this recipe in about half of her books. The involtini I made on this occasion weren't technically the ones in Feast, but rather a mash-up of all the different versions. For the filling, I used feta, parmesan, pine nuts, currants, egg, parsley and lemon zest, with bulghur wheat for added bulk.

Eggplant involtini

Rather than smothering the pretty little eggplant rolls in a jar of tomato passata, I made a proper tomato sauce by sautéing chopped onion and garlic in olive oil, adding some tinned crushed tomatoes and slowly cooking them until thickened. Time consuming, yes, but I love tomato sauce, and it can all be done in advance, and just baked when you want to eat.

Let's have a look at the meal! Look how green the broad bean bruschetta is. I love it!

Broad bean bruschetta

I served it with toasted light rye bread. (I wish I could say I chargrilled these slices, but I literally just toasted them in the toaster). Looking back at the pictures now, I see it was a pretty big pile of bread for four people as a starter - I must have been worried that we'd still be hungry, haha. (We only had about a slice each).

Broad bean bruschetta

Eggplant involtini

These involtini are soooo delicious - I love the pop of sweetness from the currants, the mushy eggplants and the toasty melted mozzarella.

My favourite green salad

Sometimes I make salads and they remain untouched, a virtuous but unnecessary adjunct to a complete meal, but this one went down really well - I think the additions of the grilled zucchini, toasted pumpkin seeds, avocado really made it very moreish. (And I'm sure the seeds and avocado added all sorts of heart-healthy fats - bonus!)

Dinner

And once all those lovely vegetables were eaten, it was time to deep-fry! It is a bit of work to have to cook dessert in the middle of a dinner party, but I thought it was actually a nice way to break up the evening - we all just headed into the kitchen to keep chatting while I prepared the baci. The batter takes just a minute to stir together, and the deep-frying process wasn't too difficult or scary, as I used a small saucepan keep the process manageable, and an oil themometer to take any guesswork out of the process. I love how they puff up into irregular little alien shapes!

Deep frying the baci

Baci di Ricotta

And if it was easy to make them, it was even easier to eat them! A thick dusting of icing sugar on top, a pot of tea on the side and... inhale!

My Favourite Green Salad
Adapted from an idea in Nigella Lawson's Feast

Ingredients
2 zucchini
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
120 grams baby spinach leaves
1 ripe avocado
Salt, pepper, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil

Method
Heat a griddle pan over a medium heat. Trim the ends of the zucchini and thinly slice lengthwise. (A mandolin is ideal). Brush each slice with olive oil on both sides and grill for a minute on each side, until cooked through and marked with and char marks. Remove to a plate. Sprinkle generously with salt and squeeze a little lemon juice over. Let cool completely before assembling the salad.
Toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry frying pan for a few minutes, until lovely and fragrant. (They don't really change colour, so use your nose to tell you when they're ready). Tip them out onto a plate to cool down.
When you are ready to eat, place the spinach leaves in a large bowl. Add the zucchini slices and half the pumpkin seeds.
Cut the avocado in half, and scoop out little pieces with a teaspoon. Add to the spinach and zucchini in the bowl. Squeeze more lemon juice over, to prevent the avocado pieces from browning. Drizzle generously with olive oil. Toss to combine, and add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with the remaining pumpkin seeds to serve.
Serves 4-6 as a side

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Father's Day Dinner and some Ottolenghi Goodness

Chicken with cardamom rice

Mmm... don't you just love a big comforting pot of chicken and rice? It's my dad's favourite dish, so for Father's Day this year, I decided to make him a dinner with Ottolenghi's chicken with cardamom rice as the central dish. I chose some other recipes from Jerusalem as accompaniments, with a simple Donna Hay crème caramel for dessert. (His other favourite!)

A Father's Day Dinner for Four

Butternut squash and tahini spread

Crudités‎, garlic pide, za'atar pide

Na'ama's fattoush

Chicken with cardamom rice

Crème caramel

All the savoury recipes in this menu come from the gorgeous book Jerusalem, however, many of the recipes from the book seem to have been pretty widely published over the net - by bloggers, in newspapers, on forums and so on. (For whatever reason, authors Yotam and Sami don't seem bothered by it - and as far as I can tell, it doesn't seem to have dented their immense popularity! If anything, I think it's helped spread the word.) Having not made any adaptations to their recipes on this occasion, I won't be publishing them myself here, but I've included links to the recipes in the menu above, for your reference. However, I can highly highly recommend purchasing a copy of the book for yourself - it's brilliant!

Let's take a look at the meal.

Butternut squash and tahini spread, peeled Dutch carrots, radishes

The butternut squash and tahini spread sounded like it would be right up my alley, but I found it unrelentingly dense and cement-like, despite my trying to slacken the mixture with extra yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil and water. I love the idea of starting a meal with a vegetable dip with vegetable crudités though, but next time I think I'll try one of their hummus or eggplant dip recipes.

Garlic pide, za'atar pide

Don't panic - I didn't bake the bread myself, this time! I just bought some Turkish bread at the supermarket, drizzled it with olive oil and za'atar and heated it through in the oven. I also picked up a loaf of that fantastically garlicky Afghani bread (I can't remember the brand, but they seem to sell them at larger supermarkets and are very large ovals of thin bread, with lots of oil and a strong garlicky aroma that always escapes the plastic bag in which it is held.) Love it.

Na'ama's fattoush, before dressing

Na'ama's fattoush is Sami's mother's recipe, and although I was worried a salad containing bread and a yogurt dressing would be very rich, it was actually wonderfully refreshing. I loved the fresh crunch of the cucumber, tomato, radish and red onion, against the soft bread and creamy yogurt.

Na'ama's fattoush, with dressing and sumac

And here's the chicken!

Chicken with cardamom rice

It was a little more work than my usual family favourite: Nigella's saffron-scented chicken pilaf, and there were quite a few more ingredients, but it was so worth it! All the different spices (cardamom, cloves, cinnamon) and herbs (dill, coriander, parsley) create such complex and unusual layers of flavour, and cooking the chicken on the bone makes the rice extra tasty. I had been a bit nervous that the chicken wouldn't cook through, or that the rice would burn, but I followed the directions exactly, and both the chicken pieces and rice were cooked perfectly. Most importantly, Dad loved it, and kept on picking at it straight out of the pot as the evening went on.

Crème caramel

I had made the crème caramels earlier that day, and unmoulded them to serve. As you can see, they were a bit messy (I just ran a knife around the side of the ramekins and tipped them out into shallow bowls - but think I should have dipped them in hot water first, to loosen the caramel from the bottom and sides). My dad didn't seem to mind though - yay! They were really creamy, with a great bitter edge from the caramel. (I used vanilla beans, because I love them, and everyone seems to think it's a treat seeing vanilla bean flecks). I used a Donna Hay recipe for the crème caramels (recipe here) - her über-styled food photography really gets on my nerves, but I can't deny that she has good recipes for the basics and classics.

For me, the most impressive dish was, surprisingly, the salad! I loved the refreshing yet comforting fattoush so much that I made it again a few days later for a midweek dinner. This time, I made it with turkey & courgette burgers with spring onion and cumin (also from Jerusalem) and some mashed sweet potato and butternut squash. So fantastic! And it made fab leftovers for workday lunches too - bonus!

Na'ama's fattoush, sweet potato and pumpkin mash, turkey and zucchini burgers

Turkey and zucchini burgers, Na'ama's fattoush, mashed sweet potato and butternut squash

Chicken with cardamom rice

Mmm... don't you just love a big comforting pot of chicken and rice? It's my dad's favourite dish, so for Father's Day this year, I decided to make him a dinner with Ottolenghi's chicken with cardamom rice as the central dish. I chose some other recipes from Jerusalem as accompaniments, with a simple Donna Hay crème caramel for dessert. (His other favourite!)

A Father's Day Dinner for Four

Butternut squash and tahini spread

Crudités‎, garlic pide, za'atar pide

Na'ama's fattoush

Chicken with cardamom rice

Crème caramel

All the savoury recipes in this menu come from the gorgeous book Jerusalem, however, many of the recipes from the book seem to have been pretty widely published over the net - by bloggers, in newspapers, on forums and so on. (For whatever reason, authors Yotam and Sami don't seem bothered by it - and as far as I can tell, it doesn't seem to have dented their immense popularity! If anything, I think it's helped spread the word.) Having not made any adaptations to their recipes on this occasion, I won't be publishing them myself here, but I've included links to the recipes in the menu above, for your reference. However, I can highly highly recommend purchasing a copy of the book for yourself - it's brilliant!

Let's take a look at the meal.

Butternut squash and tahini spread, peeled Dutch carrots, radishes

The butternut squash and tahini spread sounded like it would be right up my alley, but I found it unrelentingly dense and cement-like, despite my trying to slacken the mixture with extra yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil and water. I love the idea of starting a meal with a vegetable dip with vegetable crudités though, but next time I think I'll try one of their hummus or eggplant dip recipes.

Garlic pide, za'atar pide

Don't panic - I didn't bake the bread myself, this time! I just bought some Turkish bread at the supermarket, drizzled it with olive oil and za'atar and heated it through in the oven. I also picked up a loaf of that fantastically garlicky Afghani bread (I can't remember the brand, but they seem to sell them at larger supermarkets and are very large ovals of thin bread, with lots of oil and a strong garlicky aroma that always escapes the plastic bag in which it is held.) Love it.

Na'ama's fattoush, before dressing

Na'ama's fattoush is Sami's mother's recipe, and although I was worried a salad containing bread and a yogurt dressing would be very rich, it was actually wonderfully refreshing. I loved the fresh crunch of the cucumber, tomato, radish and red onion, against the soft bread and creamy yogurt.

Na'ama's fattoush, with dressing and sumac

And here's the chicken!

Chicken with cardamom rice

It was a little more work than my usual family favourite: Nigella's saffron-scented chicken pilaf, and there were quite a few more ingredients, but it was so worth it! All the different spices (cardamom, cloves, cinnamon) and herbs (dill, coriander, parsley) create such complex and unusual layers of flavour, and cooking the chicken on the bone makes the rice extra tasty. I had been a bit nervous that the chicken wouldn't cook through, or that the rice would burn, but I followed the directions exactly, and both the chicken pieces and rice were cooked perfectly. Most importantly, Dad loved it, and kept on picking at it straight out of the pot as the evening went on.

Crème caramel

I had made the crème caramels earlier that day, and unmoulded them to serve. As you can see, they were a bit messy (I just ran a knife around the side of the ramekins and tipped them out into shallow bowls - but think I should have dipped them in hot water first, to loosen the caramel from the bottom and sides). My dad didn't seem to mind though - yay! They were really creamy, with a great bitter edge from the caramel. (I used vanilla beans, because I love them, and everyone seems to think it's a treat seeing vanilla bean flecks). I used a Donna Hay recipe for the crème caramels (recipe here) - her über-styled food photography really gets on my nerves, but I can't deny that she has good recipes for the basics and classics.

For me, the most impressive dish was, surprisingly, the salad! I loved the refreshing yet comforting fattoush so much that I made it again a few days later for a midweek dinner. This time, I made it with turkey & courgette burgers with spring onion and cumin (also from Jerusalem) and some mashed sweet potato and butternut squash. So fantastic! And it made fab leftovers for workday lunches too - bonus!

Na'ama's fattoush, sweet potato and pumpkin mash, turkey and zucchini burgers

Turkey and zucchini burgers, Na'ama's fattoush, mashed sweet potato and butternut squash

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

A Sunday Lunch for Four

Shiraz-braised beef short rib, Petits pois à la Française, Scalloped potatoes 

We had some friends over for lunch today, and as I sit down to write this post, I realise that I haven't entertained for ages. (I certainly haven't blogged any dinner/lunch parties since March's Miranda Party post, and before that, February's Lobster Party post!) Although I love cooking, and more importantly, feeding people, my current flat isn't particularly suited for entertaining - the lounge room is carpeted, which always makes me a bit nervous if we're drinking red wine, and our dining room is kinda set apart from the kitchen, so preparing and serving many courses can be a bit awkward. When we have had people over recently, I've preferred to do simple weeknight dinners with small groups of people, like a bowl of Taiwanese Meat Sauce on Rice, eaten off our laps in the lounge room, as opposed to my usual Cecil B. DeMille productions. Or perhaps those are just excuses and I've been really enjoying hibernating this winter!

Anyway, for this particular lunch, I wanted to make something special, but still reassuringly "Sunday lunch-y". I thought that beef in a red wine sauce, scalloped potatoes and peas would do the trick.

A Sunday Lunch for 4

Shiraz-braised beef short rib

Scalloped potatoes with leeks

Petits pois à la française

Chocolate fudge cake

I've written up the recipes or the short rib and peas at the bottom of this post. You can find the recipe for the scalloped potatoes on Martha Stewart's website (click here), and the chocolate fudge cake is from the The Ottolenghi Cookbook.

The whole menu was reasonably easy to put together - I started cooking at ten in the morning, didn't feel particularly rushed, and we sat around the table to eat at one thirty.

I started by making the chocolate cake. Ottolenghi's chocolate fudge cake is a super dense, rich, chocolatey monster of a cake - just chocolate, sugar, butter, and eggs. I love how glossy the mixture looks!

Chocolate fudge cake mixture

The cake's schtick (if cake can be said to have a schtick), as I've mentioned previously, is that you bake two thirds of the mixture first, before adding the rest of the mixture and baking it fully, to give you a two-textured cake.

Cake after the first baking

Topped with the remaining mixture

The cake was still quite liquid after the allotted baking time, so I baked it for an extra ten minutes, then let it cool, and stashed it in the fridge to firm up while cooking and eating lunch.

Now, onto the beef ribs. I enjoyed braised short ribs at Stillwater restaurant last year, and had been looking for an excuse to cook them at home. My local supermarket occasionally sells short ribs, but they come pre-marinated in a spooky looking sauce, and I prefer to have control over the flavourings! I made a special trip to Prahran Market to get these beautiful short ribs.

Beef Short Ribs

I didn't follow a recipe to cook the ribs - having made a zillion stews during my How to Eat project, I now make them on easy autopilot. (I did take notes however of what I did, and have written the full recipe below for your, and my, reference!) So, I dusted the ribs in seasoned flour...

Floured beef ribs

...browned them over a high heat, and set them aside.

Browned beef ribs

In the same pan, I then cooked a mixture of aromatic vegetables - celery, carrots, shallots...

Mirepoix

... as well as some garlic.

Garlic

I added some tomato paste, a whole bottle of Shiraz, some beef stock and herbs. Then the whole lot went in the pressure cooker for forty-five minutes, until the meat was tender and falling off the bone. To finish, I set the beef aside and viciously boiled down the sauce until it was thick and glossy, adding porcini powder, salt and sugar to correct the flavour.

Shiraz-braised beef ribs

I loved the glossy, rich sauce and the tender, melting meat. I know it looks like a really wintry dish, and we're well into Spring, but Melbourne's variable weather means you never know when you'll feel like hunkering down with a nice bowl of stew. I'm a bit low on iron, and I recently heard that cooking beef bones (e.g. in a stew like I did, or in soup or stock) increases the iron content of the dish - bonus!

Let's have a look at the accompaniments! Here are the scalloped potatoes. (Martha's recipe is my favourite recipe for scalloped potatoes).

Scalloped Potatoes with Leek

I love cooking peas French style - I've included my recipe below, which is a simplified, pared down version of Nigella's petits pois à la Française from Feast.

Petits pois à la Française

Cake time! I served the cake with cinnamon whipped cream. (1 cup cream, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 teaspoon caster sugar, whipped until fluffy).

Chocolate fudge cake with cinnamon cream

Ok, so I know the last time I made this cake it was super melty and I said: "Next time I'll be more patient and let it firm up completely before digging in. Maybe."

Clearly I was not good to my word. Dammit, it was even meltier than last time! Check out this river of molten chocolate!

Chocolate fudge cake

Next time, I promise I'll make it the night before and let it firm up properly in the fridge overnight before slicing it. Maybe.

Luckily no-one was complaining, haha.

Chocolate fudge cake

Melty, melty goodness

Two-textured cake

Shiraz-braised Beef Short Rib
An original recipe by Sarah Cooks

Ingredients
1.5 kg beef short rib
1/2 cup plain flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 shallots, finely sliced
2 sticks of celery, chopped into small squares
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into small squares
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
250 millilitres beef stock
750 millilitres Shiraz wine
2 stalks thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon porcini powder

Method
Dust the beef ribs in the flour. Season with salt and pepper.
Heat half the olive oil in a large saucepan (or in a pressure cooker). In batches, brown the beef ribs on all sides, allowing them to get nice and brown. Set aside.
Add the remaining oil to the saucepan, followed by the shallots, celery and carrots. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until the shallots are softened. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir to combine.
Place the vegetable mixture in the base of a pressure cooker. Arrange the browned beef ribs on top. Pour over the stock and Shiraz. Add the thyme and bay leaves. Cook on high pressure for 45 minutes.
Remove the beef ribs with a slotted spoon to a serving dish and keep warm under a tent of foil. Cook the sauce over a high heat, boiling until reduced by half. Add the brown sugar, porcini powder and salt to taste, stirring and cooking until dissolved.
Pour the hot sauce over the beef ribs to serve.
Serves 6

Petits pois à la Française 
Adapted from Nigella Lawson's Feast

Ingredients
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 shallot
500 grams frozen baby peas
1/2 cup chicken stock

Method
Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Finely slice the shallots and add to the pan, stirring occasionally, until softened. Tip in the peas and stir to coat in the oil and shallots. Add the chicken stock. Bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until the peas are cooked through and are piping hot.
Serves 6 as an accompaniment

Shiraz-braised beef short rib, Petits pois à la Française, Scalloped potatoes 

We had some friends over for lunch today, and as I sit down to write this post, I realise that I haven't entertained for ages. (I certainly haven't blogged any dinner/lunch parties since March's Miranda Party post, and before that, February's Lobster Party post!) Although I love cooking, and more importantly, feeding people, my current flat isn't particularly suited for entertaining - the lounge room is carpeted, which always makes me a bit nervous if we're drinking red wine, and our dining room is kinda set apart from the kitchen, so preparing and serving many courses can be a bit awkward. When we have had people over recently, I've preferred to do simple weeknight dinners with small groups of people, like a bowl of Taiwanese Meat Sauce on Rice, eaten off our laps in the lounge room, as opposed to my usual Cecil B. DeMille productions. Or perhaps those are just excuses and I've been really enjoying hibernating this winter!

Anyway, for this particular lunch, I wanted to make something special, but still reassuringly "Sunday lunch-y". I thought that beef in a red wine sauce, scalloped potatoes and peas would do the trick.

A Sunday Lunch for 4

Shiraz-braised beef short rib

Scalloped potatoes with leeks

Petits pois à la française

Chocolate fudge cake

I've written up the recipes or the short rib and peas at the bottom of this post. You can find the recipe for the scalloped potatoes on Martha Stewart's website (click here), and the chocolate fudge cake is from the The Ottolenghi Cookbook.

The whole menu was reasonably easy to put together - I started cooking at ten in the morning, didn't feel particularly rushed, and we sat around the table to eat at one thirty.

I started by making the chocolate cake. Ottolenghi's chocolate fudge cake is a super dense, rich, chocolatey monster of a cake - just chocolate, sugar, butter, and eggs. I love how glossy the mixture looks!

Chocolate fudge cake mixture

The cake's schtick (if cake can be said to have a schtick), as I've mentioned previously, is that you bake two thirds of the mixture first, before adding the rest of the mixture and baking it fully, to give you a two-textured cake.

Cake after the first baking

Topped with the remaining mixture

The cake was still quite liquid after the allotted baking time, so I baked it for an extra ten minutes, then let it cool, and stashed it in the fridge to firm up while cooking and eating lunch.

Now, onto the beef ribs. I enjoyed braised short ribs at Stillwater restaurant last year, and had been looking for an excuse to cook them at home. My local supermarket occasionally sells short ribs, but they come pre-marinated in a spooky looking sauce, and I prefer to have control over the flavourings! I made a special trip to Prahran Market to get these beautiful short ribs.

Beef Short Ribs

I didn't follow a recipe to cook the ribs - having made a zillion stews during my How to Eat project, I now make them on easy autopilot. (I did take notes however of what I did, and have written the full recipe below for your, and my, reference!) So, I dusted the ribs in seasoned flour...

Floured beef ribs

...browned them over a high heat, and set them aside.

Browned beef ribs

In the same pan, I then cooked a mixture of aromatic vegetables - celery, carrots, shallots...

Mirepoix

... as well as some garlic.

Garlic

I added some tomato paste, a whole bottle of Shiraz, some beef stock and herbs. Then the whole lot went in the pressure cooker for forty-five minutes, until the meat was tender and falling off the bone. To finish, I set the beef aside and viciously boiled down the sauce until it was thick and glossy, adding porcini powder, salt and sugar to correct the flavour.

Shiraz-braised beef ribs

I loved the glossy, rich sauce and the tender, melting meat. I know it looks like a really wintry dish, and we're well into Spring, but Melbourne's variable weather means you never know when you'll feel like hunkering down with a nice bowl of stew. I'm a bit low on iron, and I recently heard that cooking beef bones (e.g. in a stew like I did, or in soup or stock) increases the iron content of the dish - bonus!

Let's have a look at the accompaniments! Here are the scalloped potatoes. (Martha's recipe is my favourite recipe for scalloped potatoes).

Scalloped Potatoes with Leek

I love cooking peas French style - I've included my recipe below, which is a simplified, pared down version of Nigella's petits pois à la Française from Feast.

Petits pois à la Française

Cake time! I served the cake with cinnamon whipped cream. (1 cup cream, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 teaspoon caster sugar, whipped until fluffy).

Chocolate fudge cake with cinnamon cream

Ok, so I know the last time I made this cake it was super melty and I said: "Next time I'll be more patient and let it firm up completely before digging in. Maybe."

Clearly I was not good to my word. Dammit, it was even meltier than last time! Check out this river of molten chocolate!

Chocolate fudge cake

Next time, I promise I'll make it the night before and let it firm up properly in the fridge overnight before slicing it. Maybe.

Luckily no-one was complaining, haha.

Chocolate fudge cake

Melty, melty goodness

Two-textured cake

Shiraz-braised Beef Short Rib
An original recipe by Sarah Cooks

Ingredients
1.5 kg beef short rib
1/2 cup plain flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 shallots, finely sliced
2 sticks of celery, chopped into small squares
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into small squares
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
250 millilitres beef stock
750 millilitres Shiraz wine
2 stalks thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon porcini powder

Method
Dust the beef ribs in the flour. Season with salt and pepper.
Heat half the olive oil in a large saucepan (or in a pressure cooker). In batches, brown the beef ribs on all sides, allowing them to get nice and brown. Set aside.
Add the remaining oil to the saucepan, followed by the shallots, celery and carrots. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until the shallots are softened. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir to combine.
Place the vegetable mixture in the base of a pressure cooker. Arrange the browned beef ribs on top. Pour over the stock and Shiraz. Add the thyme and bay leaves. Cook on high pressure for 45 minutes.
Remove the beef ribs with a slotted spoon to a serving dish and keep warm under a tent of foil. Cook the sauce over a high heat, boiling until reduced by half. Add the brown sugar, porcini powder and salt to taste, stirring and cooking until dissolved.
Pour the hot sauce over the beef ribs to serve.
Serves 6

Petits pois à la Française 
Adapted from Nigella Lawson's Feast

Ingredients
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 shallot
500 grams frozen baby peas
1/2 cup chicken stock

Method
Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Finely slice the shallots and add to the pan, stirring occasionally, until softened. Tip in the peas and stir to coat in the oil and shallots. Add the chicken stock. Bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until the peas are cooked through and are piping hot.
Serves 6 as an accompaniment

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Germany 2013: BBQs and Parties

Bringing it back to the Germany posts!

BBQ!

Mmm... meat. Today's post is going to be about the different barbecues and parties we enjoyed whilst on our trip. I thought it might be interesting for y'all to have a look at - when overseas, I personally find it can be hard to get an insight into a country's regular eating habits unless you're staying with a family for an extended period of time, like with your own friends and family, or on an exchange. Let's roll!

For Sandra's mum's birthday, we had a Fleischkäse Party. Fleischkäse (known as Leberkäse in Bavaria) is a spiced meatloaf, which you can buy in slices at the deli. You can eat it thickly sliced, wodged into a bread roll (like in my German Supermarkets post), topped with an egg and cheese in a "Strammer Max", or in thin slices as part of an Aufschnitt supper or in a sandwich. For this party (with about twenty guests, from memory), they bought three raw loaves, and baked them at home.

Raw Fleischkäse loaf

Slicing the Fleischkäse

There were three flavours: normal, onion and pizza (with cheese, capsicum and spices inside). My favourite was plain - you can't beat a classic.

Fleischkäse 

Haha, my fifteen-year old pork-avoiding self would have hated this sight. Now I'm just like: "Give Me All Of The Pork!"  (N.B. you can buy Fleischkäse here in Melbourne - I normally get it from Andrew's Choice in Yarraville or the The Wursthütte on Glenferrie Road. I can't remember if the Polish deli in Victoria Market sells it, but if they do, I assume it'd be pretty good there too. Everyone here calls it Leberkäse though, how Bavari-centric!)

Accompaniments to the pork were ciabatta bread...

Ciabatta bread

...and salads! I think the pictures are pretty self explanatory, but a few comments: these were all homemade, and not purchased; mozzarella balls are super cheap in Germany, like €1 per ball; and Sandra's mum's potato salad is my favourite German food of all time! (More on that later).

Salads

What's a German party without beer? This was a bonus keg, in addition to the actual keg in the Partyraum, and the fridge full of drinks.

Mini-Keg: "Eine Konigin unter den Bieren" - A Queen among the beers

I whipped up a few desserts for the party: a chocolate mousse, Nigella's white chocolate and passionfruit mousse, and her Bailey's tiramisu. With all that raw egg, (plus the meat, the bread, the salads and the beer), I was terrified someone might get sick, but the eggs were fresh and everyone was fine. Yay!

Ingredients for white chocolate and raspberry mousse

Desserts: white chocolate and passionfruit mousse, Bailey's tiramisu, chocolate mousse

For Sandra's birthday, she requested that her uncle make Gulaschsuppe. You can read about more detail about how to make Gulashsuppe in this post from my previous trip to Germany, but it's a fun, all-afternoon process that involves the entire family preparing the ingredients, a big cauldron in the backyard, and quite a few beers while you wait for the meat to slowly cook to tenderness.

The Gulaschsuppe pot

Bubbling away

All the flavourings and secret ingredients

Dishing up the Gulaschsuppe

Mmm... tasty

I love the rich, paprika-spiked broth (extra rich from all the marrow bones it's cooked with!), the soft potatoes and carrots, and the tender meat.

The accompaniment for this delicious stew were some fab caraway bread rolls that Sandra's sister made herself. Don't they look great? Super professional and artisan-looking!

Kummelbroetchen - Caraway bread rolls

Of course, we had a couple of barbecues. Here's one we enjoyed at a (different) uncle's house. (The same BBQ from the pic at the top of this post).

BBQ

This one was relatively small, with just two salads (pasta salad and Sandra's mum's potato salad), a bowl of tzatziki, and a loaf of türkische Brot (Turkish bread), which was also heated through on the BBQ.

Salads

I know I've gone on about Sandra's mum's potato salad a lot before, but ZOMG it is so good! I just wanted to share a picture of it being made. Look at all that bacon! Bacon, potatoes, onion - pure deliciousness.

Kartoffelsalat - Potato salad

The following pics are from a barbecue we had at home the day we left - when the sun finally decided to come out! Totally dorky, I know, but I had so much fun choosing the different meats at the supermarket the day before. So many options! Apart from the amazing variety and quality of sausages that you'd expect, there were heaps of different marinated steaks, chicken wings, chicken skewers and, thrillingly, pork belly rashers. I must, must remember to buy pork belly rashers and marinate them the next time I barbecue!

BBQ at home

This time, I had a go baking some bread and made a Fladenbrot (flat bread, or focaccia), which I kneaded by hand, thank-you very much!

Raw Fladenbrot

Baked

And... phew! It was cooked all the way through and fluffy. Super yay!

Fluffy, fluffy Fladenbrot

Now that we're back in Australia, I can't wait for the weather to warm up a bit so I can enjoy some barbecues and beers in the sun!

What are your favourite things to barbecue? Do you have standard dishes and menus that you turn to for family celebrations, or do you like to mix it up?

Bringing it back to the Germany posts!

BBQ!

Mmm... meat. Today's post is going to be about the different barbecues and parties we enjoyed whilst on our trip. I thought it might be interesting for y'all to have a look at - when overseas, I personally find it can be hard to get an insight into a country's regular eating habits unless you're staying with a family for an extended period of time, like with your own friends and family, or on an exchange. Let's roll!

For Sandra's mum's birthday, we had a Fleischkäse Party. Fleischkäse (known as Leberkäse in Bavaria) is a spiced meatloaf, which you can buy in slices at the deli. You can eat it thickly sliced, wodged into a bread roll (like in my German Supermarkets post), topped with an egg and cheese in a "Strammer Max", or in thin slices as part of an Aufschnitt supper or in a sandwich. For this party (with about twenty guests, from memory), they bought three raw loaves, and baked them at home.

Raw Fleischkäse loaf

Slicing the Fleischkäse

There were three flavours: normal, onion and pizza (with cheese, capsicum and spices inside). My favourite was plain - you can't beat a classic.

Fleischkäse 

Haha, my fifteen-year old pork-avoiding self would have hated this sight. Now I'm just like: "Give Me All Of The Pork!"  (N.B. you can buy Fleischkäse here in Melbourne - I normally get it from Andrew's Choice in Yarraville or the The Wursthütte on Glenferrie Road. I can't remember if the Polish deli in Victoria Market sells it, but if they do, I assume it'd be pretty good there too. Everyone here calls it Leberkäse though, how Bavari-centric!)

Accompaniments to the pork were ciabatta bread...

Ciabatta bread

...and salads! I think the pictures are pretty self explanatory, but a few comments: these were all homemade, and not purchased; mozzarella balls are super cheap in Germany, like €1 per ball; and Sandra's mum's potato salad is my favourite German food of all time! (More on that later).

Salads

What's a German party without beer? This was a bonus keg, in addition to the actual keg in the Partyraum, and the fridge full of drinks.

Mini-Keg: "Eine Konigin unter den Bieren" - A Queen among the beers

I whipped up a few desserts for the party: a chocolate mousse, Nigella's white chocolate and passionfruit mousse, and her Bailey's tiramisu. With all that raw egg, (plus the meat, the bread, the salads and the beer), I was terrified someone might get sick, but the eggs were fresh and everyone was fine. Yay!

Ingredients for white chocolate and raspberry mousse

Desserts: white chocolate and passionfruit mousse, Bailey's tiramisu, chocolate mousse

For Sandra's birthday, she requested that her uncle make Gulaschsuppe. You can read about more detail about how to make Gulashsuppe in this post from my previous trip to Germany, but it's a fun, all-afternoon process that involves the entire family preparing the ingredients, a big cauldron in the backyard, and quite a few beers while you wait for the meat to slowly cook to tenderness.

The Gulaschsuppe pot

Bubbling away

All the flavourings and secret ingredients

Dishing up the Gulaschsuppe

Mmm... tasty

I love the rich, paprika-spiked broth (extra rich from all the marrow bones it's cooked with!), the soft potatoes and carrots, and the tender meat.

The accompaniment for this delicious stew were some fab caraway bread rolls that Sandra's sister made herself. Don't they look great? Super professional and artisan-looking!

Kummelbroetchen - Caraway bread rolls

Of course, we had a couple of barbecues. Here's one we enjoyed at a (different) uncle's house. (The same BBQ from the pic at the top of this post).

BBQ

This one was relatively small, with just two salads (pasta salad and Sandra's mum's potato salad), a bowl of tzatziki, and a loaf of türkische Brot (Turkish bread), which was also heated through on the BBQ.

Salads

I know I've gone on about Sandra's mum's potato salad a lot before, but ZOMG it is so good! I just wanted to share a picture of it being made. Look at all that bacon! Bacon, potatoes, onion - pure deliciousness.

Kartoffelsalat - Potato salad

The following pics are from a barbecue we had at home the day we left - when the sun finally decided to come out! Totally dorky, I know, but I had so much fun choosing the different meats at the supermarket the day before. So many options! Apart from the amazing variety and quality of sausages that you'd expect, there were heaps of different marinated steaks, chicken wings, chicken skewers and, thrillingly, pork belly rashers. I must, must remember to buy pork belly rashers and marinate them the next time I barbecue!

BBQ at home

This time, I had a go baking some bread and made a Fladenbrot (flat bread, or focaccia), which I kneaded by hand, thank-you very much!

Raw Fladenbrot

Baked

And... phew! It was cooked all the way through and fluffy. Super yay!

Fluffy, fluffy Fladenbrot

Now that we're back in Australia, I can't wait for the weather to warm up a bit so I can enjoy some barbecues and beers in the sun!

What are your favourite things to barbecue? Do you have standard dishes and menus that you turn to for family celebrations, or do you like to mix it up?

reade more... Résuméabuiyad