Mussel power

I was at the market recently and picked up a kilo of mussels for $5!! That’s an incredible price, especially as these little gems were large and juicy and absolutely delicious. I love mussels but they are not something I cook at home very often. This was a good excuse to give them a go. I fried up some shallots and lots (I mean lots) of garlic. Then I added a cup of fish stock and a cup of white wine. I just pulled a half full bottle of white wine from the fridge completely oblivious to quality. It was only after J went to pour us a glass of wine to have with the mussels that I was informed of how good the wine I had used was. J made sure we both drank up every drop of the sauce.

I brought the stock and wine to the boil then added the mussels and covered with a lid. I moved them all around a couple of times and after about 5 minutes they were ready to eat. We enjoyed them with a class of average wine (oops) and some gorgeous crusty pumpkin bread which I had also picked up at the market. This delicious, simple, quick meal came at the grand cost of $8.50 plus a gentle reminder about not using the really good wine in my cooking.

Titbits

I would like to make a little addendum to this Marinara dish. I made the marinara at the weekend because I had lots of fishy bits I wanted to use up. Art, who has now headed back home, had left some smoked oysters in the fridge. I decided to add these in. You can get them in a tin at the supermarket. I used the oil in the tin when I was making the sauce and I added the smoked oysters when I added the other seafood. It tasted fantastic!!! I will be definitely be adding these from now on.



I also have a really simple recipe for Broccoli soup that tastes fantastic. I also made this at the weekend. See, I am still cooking it just doesn’t look like it from this blog. The recipe comes courtesy of Gordon Ramsey.

Something fishy

With temperatures in the high 30s today there is no doubt that Sydney is moving into summer. I think this may be a freak day but it’s still great to see everyone in shorts and summer dresses again. I’m putting away all the slow roasting pots and moving away from the oven cos it’s just too hot these days.

What we want to eat now are light flavourful dishes that excite the palate and don’t involve too much time in the kitchen. There’s balmy nights to be enjoyed you know.

While out walking with a friend recently we got to talking about what was on for dinner. She was telling me about a delicious Marinara dish that she makes that’s so good everyone comes back for seconds. I have a fridge full of fresh seafood so it sounded like the perfect dish to try.

I got myself some fresh crusty bread and whipped up this dish last night. It’s the kind of dish that gives you a great basis to work from. You can make it more spicy or creamy; you can add more herbs or alcohol. It’s all depends on what you feel like on the day. For me I’m not a big fan of parsley so I replaced that with some chopped chives. For my seafood mix I used big juicy prawns, chopped up calamari hoods and diced Tasmanian salmon fillet. I found a tin of smoked oysters that were just begging to be used so I threw them in too to add another layer to the flavours.

J is a big fan of his fish/meat. To him everything else on the plate is just garnish. Vegetables are just to add colour and carbs just fill out the plate. All he really wants to eat is his protein. So when I presented him with a bowl jam packed with delicious fish he was very happy. The crusty bread hardly got a look in until it was time to soak up the spicy sauce.

Thanks N for this great recipe.

Marinara

40 grams Butter (you may need some olive oil also, I don't like to use a lot of butter but it does give it a really nice taste)
Marinara mix about 150grams/person (add in more prawns or whatever you want to)
2 glasses White wine
1 diced Onion
A large Tin of tomatoes
Garlic to taste I usually do a clove/person
Parsley couple of handfuls of chopped
Chilli teaspoon of the jar stuff or around 2ish if fresh
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter throw in garlic and chilli and stir around for about 30secs to a minute then add the onion and fry till translucent.

Add the wine and gently boil until the alcohol smell has gone about 5 minutes then add the tomatoes and boil for 20 minutes or so. You can do this bit in earlier in the day.

When you are almost ready to serve bring the tomato sauce back to a gentle boil and add the seafood stirring it around, should take around 5 minutes to cook and lastly add the parsley and serve with crusty bread.

Fruity little numbers

I think if I had citrus trees like the ones in my last post I would have regular gin & tonics and caipirinhas to use up all the fruits. I did try to grow my own lemon and lime trees down the bottom of the garden. The lemon tree refuses point blank to grow and looks exactly the same as the day I bought it one year ago. I think I may need some special fertiliser. The lime tree was a slight mistake. I really should have spent more time choosing the tress. I literally ran into the garden centre and grabbed the first trees I saw. In my hast I didn’t realise that I was actually purchasing a lime kaffir tree. Not much good for making caipirinha’s but the leaves smell divine. I really need to start using the leaves more in my cooking so I don’t feel so bad about buying the wrong tree. [Note to self: try one of these]

I have now used up my little citrus stash. I whipped up some lemon sorbet and chopped up some citrus salsa to have with some steamed salmon. The sorbet was a little too tart for my liking. It tasted very like a Margarita minus the tequila. In fact maybe that was the missing ingredient I should have added. I didn’t want to waste the sorbet so I melted it down and mixed it with some lemonade and vanilla ice-cream to see if I can come up with something a little more palatable. It is freezing as I type so I will have to get back to you with a report on the new version of the sorbet.

The salsa was great with the fish and so easy to make. I was able to use the juices and some of the salsa to flavour the fish as it cooked too. I made little parcels with tin-foil for the salmon and topped each steak with some salsa and juices before sealing up the tin-foil.

Citrus Salsa

2 tomatoes, chopped
1 lemon, chopped
1 orange, chopped
1 tlbsp orange juice
1 tablesp lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
¼ cup coriander leaves, chopped

Chop up everything and mix it all together in a bowl. I left it to stand for a few hours and this made the flavours even more intense. Serve with a salad and some steamed fish.

1 year old

This day 1 year ago I started this blog and it has been so much fun maintaining it. I have meet some lovely people and have taken part in a number of blog events. It has kept me busy in the kitchen and has thought me all sorts of tricks with my camera. 95 posts later and I'm still enjoying it.

I wasn’t sure if the novelty of writing about food would wear off but it obviously hasn't. I was a bit worried about the blog falling by the wayside when we bought the house and moved in. There was a lot going on but I still managed to post every now and then. I’m not too fond of our new kitchen (which is due to be renovated this year) so I really don’t spend as much time pottering in the kitchen as I used to. No doubt there will be numerous posts about the disaster zone that will be our kitchen during the renovations.

Recently a friend said to me “I really like your blog but do you mind me asking you why you do it?” He didn’t seem impressed when I said I just do it because I enjoy it. I love reading other peoples blogs so why not add my own two cents worth. People also frequently talk about how I can make money out of it. It’s like there’s no point putting all that effort in if you don’t get money for it. It’s just for the sheer pleasure of it. No need for advertising and money making schemes, just fun and food. It’s interesting because I have been reading Ximena’s post about the same point over at Lobstersquad this week.

Since the festive season ended I have been looking forward to making some great little culinary creations. I had plans for a rapturous post about a three course meal that I cooked for J last night. But alas it did not turn out as planned. As usual J was very complimentary about the food but not one of the dishes turned out as I had imagined.


I started with some stuffed zucchini flowers. I have eaten these in restaurants a number of times and they were always so delicious and light. Well not mine, unfortunately. They looked lovely pre battering and deep frying. They were stuffed with basil puree, anchovies and mozzarella cheese but once they came out of the hot oil they were shrivelled little bundles of oily flavoured nothingness. I was very disappointed. The recipe called for the oil to be at a certain temperature but since I didn’t have a thermometer I think I might have had the oil too hot. Oh well we ate them anyway. A fancy garnish and a good squeeze of lemon juice hides a multitude of mistakes.

Then it was on to the main dish. This was spaghetti with garlic prawns, squid and a herby stir through paste. It was from Bill Grangers latest book, Everyday. It was included in a section for cooking a meal for two. There is nothing I like more than “Serves 2” in the recipe. It makes the cooking process seem so much more intimate. As in - it was only meant to be for two. As opposed to those recipes that say “serves 16” and make you wonder where you are going to find 14 others to join you at such short notice. Alternatively you can divide every quantity by 8 and hope for the best. “Serves 2” just sounds right. “Serves 1” sounds even better sometimes.

I digress; this seafood spaghetti was very ordinary. I was so disappointed I didn’t even take a photo. So moving on we have dessert. I was very excited about this one because again it came from Bill Grangers book and it looked divine in the photo. It was a self saucing chocolate pudding and it seemed very easy to make. The recipe bumf said that this was very popular in his restaurants so I had high hopes for it. I followed the recipe exactly … well almost exactly … ok so maybe I used slightly smaller ramekins then he recommended but could that make such a big difference? Obviously it could because these were more like no-saucing puddings. That said, they did still taste great but there wasn’t a single smidge of sauce in them. Oh well. The photo I took just looked like brown mush so I won’t even be including that.

It’s tricky when you cook late at night to take a decent photo of the food. If anyone has any tips on lighting food when there’s no natural light to work with could you please let me know.


My other kitchen disaster was when I tried to make Roast tomatoes. I read about these great tomatoes again at Lobstersquad. I read it months ago and scribbled down the recipe in a notebook. When looking for something else I came across the recipe and thought I would give them a try. I bought some lovely ripe tomatoes. Tthey were so big and juicy I thought they would turn out lovely roasted. Again, I think that my major flaw was that I did not know what temperature to roast them at. I prepared the tomatoes and popped then in the oven at 200C. I did slightly neglect my cooking responsibilities when I headed off for a swim while they were roasting. But I left my able assistant, J, in charge of turning the oven down to 100C after an hour. Unfortunately, when I got home (1½ hours later) the lovely juicy tomatoes had turned into black burnt bumps on the roasting tray. Apparently they were even a bit burnt looking when my able assistant turned them down but he thought “I wanted them burnt” oh well he was only following instructions. I did try to salvage them but whooshing them up in the food processor with some olive oil but I could only taste the sour burnt flavour.

I am not going to let these disasters deter me. I will persevere. We have J’s parents coming to stay soon so better that I get the disasters out of the way good and early. Some day I will tell you about the first time I made dinner for J’s Mum and the pavlova turned out green !!!

Tuna-tastic

J and I are both big fans of tuna sashimi. We regularly have Japanese food and every time we do there are negotiations over the tuna. A single piece of tuna sashimi fetches a good trade at the sushi bar. It can be traded for two prawn nigri or even a whole serving of agadashi tofu (which is a bit unfair as J doesn’t even really like tofu). We both always keep a count of how many pieces of tuna we have both eaten – God forbid one of us should have more than the other. We’ve even been known to order extra tuna just to prevent an argument.

I spotted two recipes in last months Delicious magazine for raw (or nearly raw) tuna and the pictures looked so good I decided that the first chance I had to go to the fish market I was going to pick up some fresh sashimi tuna and put together a nice light meal for us. Wow, imagine having your tuna on your own plate so that no wandering chopsticks can steal them on you.

The first dish (pictured above) was more about the presentation that the cooking involved. I made some sushi rice and sprinkled it with poppies seeds. Then I added an oyster, some salmon roe, avocado, yamagataya seaweed and garnished with a little basil. I then made the dressing which was
2 tbs rice vinegar
1 tbs wasabi paste
2 tsp sweet chilli sauce
100ml vegetable oil
50ml extra virgin olive oil

I loved all the different textures in this very simple dish.

The second dish was again for simple but tasted absolutely divine. I coated the tuna in olive oil and seared it on all sides for about 2 mins. I then placed it in a bowl of iced water to stop the cooking process. The seared tuna was thinly sliced and served with a raw asparagus salad. You simply shave the asparagus with a vegetable peeler and mix with some salad. This dish was drizzled with the following Soy Dressing
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp caster sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tsp grated ginger
2 tbsp mirin

Something Fishy about Lunch

If last weekend was a weekend for staying indoors then this weekend was most definitely a weekend for getting out there. There was nothing but sunshine and blue skies for the whole weekend. Now this is more like the spring i have come to know and love

We recently moved closer to The Sydney Fish Market so we decided to take a walk down and enjoy a spot of lunch in the sun. We had the dog with us so I sat outside enjoying one of my favourite pastimes – people watching while J went in to purchase the necessaries. I told him my wish-list was any of the following - Oysters, Cooked King Prawns, Sashimi, Deep fried Whitebait or Lobster Mornay. J decided to replace the ‘any’ in my request with an ‘all’ and came back with an absolute feast, along with a lovely fruity Verdelho to top it off.

J and I have both been very busy recently so it was lovely to spend some time together and enjoy great food in an excellent surrounding. The buzz at the fish market is fantastic. I really love the incredible array of nationalities of all ages enjoying food at its finest. No pomp and ceremony here, just good old fashioned food enjoyed the way it was meant to be – with a sprinkling of Tetsuya’s dressing for oysters of course.

p.s. I promise to post about something I made this week

Step by Step

It was such a pleasure to be the kitchen helper for the night. My friend S had volunteered to cook a girlie get together dinner. Our friend J is pregnant and her little baby girl will be coming into this world in just a few weeks. We wanted to have a catch up before the big day and since J's husband was away in the USA this was the perfect opportunity.

To be honest S did all the hard work. She found the recipe for Salmon with Angel hair pasta, Asparagus and Dill in a new cookbook that she received after becoming an Aussie Citizen (she's really a pomme in disguise). S did the shopping and bought all the necessary ingredients and we headed over to J's place to cook it up. My role was chief chopper and annoying person popping up with J's camera at each stage of the preparation.

It's not the trickiest recipe in the world but the ingredients all looked so tasty that I decided to do a photo step by step presentation . I had to take advantage of not being the chef on this meal.

Salmon with Angel hair pasta, Asparagus & Dill

80g angel-hair pasta
400g piece Atlantic salmon
1 tablespoon olive oil
500g asparagus, trimmed, chopped coarsely
20g butter
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon seeded mustard
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon finely shredded lemon rind
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup (125ml) chicken stock
100ml creme fraiche
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh dill
3 green onions, sliced thinly

	Cook pasta in large saucepan of boiling water, uncovered, until just tender; drain, keep warm
	Meanwhile, cut salmon into 2cm cubes.
	Heat half the oil in large non-stick frying pan; cook asparagus over high heat, turning, until browned slightly and just tender.
	Drain on absorbent paper. Heat remaining oil in same pan; cook salmon over high heat, turning, until just seared. Drain on absorbent paper.
	Melt butter in same pan; cook garlic, stirring, until fragrant.
	Add mustards, rind, juice and stock, bring to a boil. Stir in creme fraiche.
	Chop dill and onion and add in; heat without boiling.
	Add pasta, asparagus and salmon.
	Toss gently to combine and serve.

Virtuous soup

Soup is great for a starter or for a light lunch but there was a time that I wouldn’t dream of having soup for my dinner. That was until I discovered the wonders of Asian soups. These soups are full of all sorts of delicious goodies like prawns, crisp vegetables and noodles. It really is a full meal, swimming around in a tasty broth.

A combination of factors helped to turn my mind to having soup for dinner. Firstly the temperature has dropped a few degrees and I have become a weather wuss since I moved to Sydney. People are constantly asking me why I’m not able for the cold weather since I lived in Ireland for the first 25 years of my life. Well, I guess I was just always super cold when I lived in Ireland and hence I moved to nice warm Australia. It only gets really cold here for a few weeks every year and that's when I turn to the comfort of hot soup.

The second reason I wanted to have soup for dinner was that recently we have had a number of excellent, very rich meals. I needed something light and tasty to balance all the food I have eaten recently.

J is generally not a big fan of soup but once you put a few prawns in there he gets so distracted by his favourite ingredient that he forgets he is even having soup.

This soup comes from Delicious magazine and was hot in both temperature and in flavour. It was the perfect dinner for a cold Sunday night. J was very disappointed when he went fishing in the soup for some wontons and couldn’t find any. I’ve been making long & short soup recently with noodles, wantons and prawns and it is a favourite of J’s. I’ll have to throw a few wantons in next time to save myself from a disappointed dinner partner.


Hot & Sour prawn soup

2 cups (500mL) chicken stock
2 kaffir lime leaves
2 small red chillies, seeds removed, finely chopped
3cm-piece ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
2 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs tamarind paste
200g glass (bean thread) noodles or rice vermicelli
150g green beans or snake beans, trimmed, cut into 3cm lengths
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
16 large green king prawns, peeled, de-veined
Coriander sprigs and lime cheeks (optional), to serve

Place the stock, kaffir lime leaves, chilli, ginger, fish sauce, tamarind paste and 2 cups (500mL) water in a large heavy-based saucepan, and bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the glass noodles or vermicelli in a large heatproof bowl and pour over enough boiling water to cover. Set aside for 3 minutes to soften, then rinse and drain well and divide among serving bowls.

Add the green or snake beans to the soup and simmer for a further 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and prawns, remove from the heat. Stand for 1 minute until prawns are just cooked, then ladle soup over the noodles and garnish with coriander sprigs. Serve immediately, with lime cheeks if desired.

Pie in the sky

I’m on a roll these days with the dinner parties. My good friend M, who is probably the only person I know over here who is as consumed by food as I am, came over with her husband for a taste of some of the food that’s on Berrysimple. M is a very good cook so I wanted to serve them something that would impress.

The Australian Gourmet Traveller has published a cook book, Fare Exchange, with recipes from all the top restaurants in Australia. So what better way to impress then to go for restaurant quality dishes. M is a fish eating vegetarian like my last guests so I needed something fishy. The Boathouse in Glebe does a very special Snapper pie that is definitely up there as one of my favourite dishes. I was thrilled when I saw the recipe in Fare Exchange and surprised at how straight forward it was to make the pie. I will be adding this to my repertoire of regular dishes now.



I wanted to start with something light so I opted for a salmon tartare with fennel and apple salad. My new friend in the local fish shop was very impressed with my purchases and was curious as to what dishes my guests would be enjoying.



The dessert was a lovely Espresso crème brulee. I used to make crème brulee regularly but after a mishap, during a meal where I was trying to impress J’s parents, I have been turned off making it for a while. I think I used the wrong type of cream. It looked ok. There was a nice crisp surface but when you broke through the surface it tasted like very sweet scrambled eggs. It was really terrible and the worst bit was they all ate it. But this time everything went ok. The Crème was lovely and creamy and not lumpy at all. There was a hidden treat at the bottom of the dessert which was some rich soft dark chocolate. Delicious with the rich bottle of red our guests brought.

The meal worked out well and was enjoyed by all. Lucky for me everything went ok because this was only M’s second night out since her baby was born months ago. It was all perfectly timed so that we could chill out and watch England in their first game of the soccer world cup. Ireland didn’t make it this year so I will be cheering with J for England (this kills me as an Irish girl) and for Australia, my newly adopted home.

Salmon Tartare with Apple and Fennel Salad

320g very fresh salmon, skinned, de-boned and cut in 5 mm pieces
1 tblsp chopped chives
1 tsp chopped dill
2 tblsp salmon roe
1 bulb of baby fennel, trimmed
1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and cut into julienne
1 small Lebanese cucumber, thinly sliced
Melba toast to serve

White Balsamic vinaigrette
1 tblsp white balsamic condiment
2 tblsp verjuice
2 tblsp grape seed oil

1. Place salmon, dill and salmon roe in a bowl and season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Using a mandolin or very sharp knife, shave or cut fennel lengthways as thinly as possible.
2. For white Balsamic vinaigrette, whisk together all ingredients in a large bowl and season to taste. Add fennel and apple and combine well.
3. Divide salmon tartare into small mounds among 4 plates, top with cucumber rounds, then fennel and apple salad. Scatter with some dill and roe.

Snapper Pie

500g pink snapper, skinned, de-boned and cut into 4 cm pieces
4 tsp white truffle oil
375g packets of frozen block of puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, lightly beaten
Mashed potatoes to serve

Smoked tomatoes
80g long-grain rice
2 vine-ripened tomatoes, halved
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
4 tsp balsamic vinegar

Soubise sauce
4 tblsp olive oil
300g onions, thinly sliced
100ml fish stock
200ml pouring cream
1 onion, finely chopped

1. For smoked tomatoes, line a wok with foil, then place rice in the base and place a wire rack over. Heat wok over medium heat until rice begins to smoke. Place tomatoes, cut side up on rack, brush with combined chopped garlic and balsamic vinegar, then cover and cook for 3 mins or until heated through and tomatoes have taken on a light smoked flavour.
2. For the Soubise sauce, heat 2 tblsp olive oil in a large heavy based saucepan, add sliced onions and 1 tsp sea salt and cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat for 30 mins or until onions are very sift and golden. Add the stock and simmer until reduced by half. Add cream and simmer until reduced by half, then remove from heat and cool.
3. Heat remaining oil in a small saucepan and cook finely chopped onion, stirring occasionally over medium heat for 10 mins or until soft.
4. Process cream mixture in a food processor until smooth, then transfer sauce to a bowl. Stir in chopped onions and season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
5. Spoon 2-3 tblsp soubise sauce into the base of 2 5cm deep 12.5X17.5 cm oval ovenproof dishes, then divide snapper equally among dishes. Top with another 2 tblsp soubise sauce and drizzle each with 2 tsp white truffle oil.
6. Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface until 5mm thick, then cut out two ovals 3cm larger than ovenproof dishes. Cover pies with pastry, pressing pastry to side of dish, then brush with lightly beaten egg. Bake pies at 200C for 20 minuets or until pastry is golden and puffed. Stand pies for 5 mins before serving with mashed potatoes and smoked tomatoes.


Chocolate and Espresso Brulee

75g dark, covertures’ chocolate
450 ml pouring cream
6 egg yolks
100g caster sugar, plus extra to serve
2 ½ tblsp strong freshly brewed espresso coffee
½ cup milk
1 vanilla bean, split lengthways
Biscotti to serve

1. Place chocolate and 75ml cream in a bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Divide mixture among ½ cup capacity ramekins, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.
2. Meanwhile, place egg yolks, sugar and coffee in a bowl and whisk until well combined. Place milk, remaining cream, scraped seeds from vanilla bean in a saucepan and bring to just below the boil. Whisking continuously, pour half the hot milk mixture onto egg yolk mixture, combine well, then stir in remaining hot milk mixture. Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl, cover closely with plastic wrap, cool to room temp, then refrigerate for 2 hours or until cold.
3. Stir mixture to combine well and then pour into prepared ramekins. Place ramekins in a deep roasting pan and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up sides of ramekins. Cover pan with foil, then pierce all over with a skewer to prevent condensation building. Bake at 150C for 50-60 minutes or until just set. Remove ramekins from the pan, cool to room temp, cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.
4. Just before serving, place ramekins in a deep roasting pan and pack ice around each one. Dust each ramekin with extra caster sugar, then place under a hot grill for 2 mins or until sugar is caramelised. Serve immediately with biscotti.

Recipe says it serves 6 but this was enough for 4 greedy guts.

A quick gush

Recently I have had a renewed love of seafood. Apart from living a couple of miles from the Sydney Fish Market, I'm lucky to have the fantastic De Costi Seafood's shop at the centre where I buy my groceries. I know I've been going there quite a bit recently because I am now on chatting terms with the lovely fish monger.

I've been meaning to make the Braised Calamari dish for ages so that I could add the picture to the recipe in my 'Recipes' links. Since J was getting back this week I thought I would celebrate his return with one of our favourite dishes. This Braised Calamari was first made for me by J's good friend A who he has just been staying with. Now I think it's safe to say that A is easily one of the best cooks I know so there is a lot to live up to when making this dish. I have never been able to reproduce the exact dish that A made for us last year when he stayed but it still makes for a damn good dinner.

One of the things about A's cooking that I really admire is that he never uses a recipe (except maybe for the odd dessert). It's all instinct with him and the majority of the time his instinct is spot on. I know I'm gushing here but another thing I love when A cooks is that there is always a new cocktail to start and delicious pre-dinner nibbles to keep you occupied while he gets on with the dinner.

For the recipe check out Braised Calamari

Total wellbeing will have to wait

Back in the middle of last year I got caught up in the craze of "The CSIRO total wellbeing diet". How could anyone argue with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. With a title like that they must know what they are talking about. The book, by the same name, has been on the bestseller list here in Australia for months now. It's a good book with chapters outlining the benefits of the diet, a 12 week menu plan and then lots of recipes that are mentioned in the menu plans.

I had all the best intentions of sticking to the menu plan but who was I kidding. After about 2 weeks of following their suggestions the real world kicked in with work and a social life interfering with 'The plan'. But one thing I will say for the book is that they have some of the best everyday dishes I have ever cooked. Simple recipes with basic ingredients that makes the most of herbs and spices. So even though I didn't stick to their recommended menus I have made lots of the dishes for J & I. Most of them are pretty quick to prepare which is great at the end of a long day at the office.

This week after picking up all the necessary seafood requirements at the fish market I set about making my first ever Paella. Over the years I've had the pleasure of dining out on many different variations of Paella but I have to say (self praise aside) this is one of the best I have had. The rice came out creamy and full of flavour and the large quantities of seafood meant that there was no fishing around (pardon the pun) for the good bits.

I know Paella is one of my Dad's favourite dishes so he will be a happy man when Mum sees this post and has to try it out.

Seafood Paella

Serves 4 for dinner
1 tsp saffron
1 tsp paprika
1/4 cup boiling water
2 tblsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, finely chopped
3 tomatoes, roughly chopped
200g short grain rice
1 litre chicken stock
400g white fish fillets
150g uncooked prawns
200g mussels
150g calamari
150g peas
freshly ground black pepper
Lime wedges to serve

1. In a small non-stick frying pan, lightly toast saffron. Transfer to a cup, then crush and add paprika and boiling water. Stir to dissolve and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large heavy based frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and cook for 5 mins, or until soft. Add tomato and cook for 3 min. Add rice and cook, stirring to combine, for a further 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, bring stock to the boil in a saucepan. Add the stock and the saffron liquid to the rice mixture, stirring well to combine.
4. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 mins. Place fish, prawns, mussels and calamari on top of rice. Cover frying pan with foil and cook for a further 10 mins. Add peas, re-cover pan, and cook for a final 5 mins. Season with pepper.

Can you kill him for me?

Without a shadow of a doubt, I am a creature of habit. I love routine, order, planning and organisation. A trip to the Fish Market is no exception. I usually plan to buy some oysters and prawns and, if I'm feeling really mad, I might even pick up some scallops. Today I went there, to meet my friend Manor for lunch, and thanks to this Blog I decided that it was time to challenge myself. I was going to purchase a lobster and try my hand at Lobster Mornay.

I didn't realise that at the fish market you can only get live or cooked lobster. This nearly put an end to my adventurous phase until I decided to ask the assistant if she could do the dirty deed for me. Unfortunately she didn't speak very good English so I had to repeat "Can you kill him for me?" 3 times. Each time getting louder - because we all know that speaking louder makes English much easier to understand. I looked the other way and chatted with Manor while the lobster said his last goodbyes.

I didn't even want to cut him open, so I recruited J to do that for me. I have never seen a man able to extract more meat from a crustacean than J. It is a talent I am truly envious of, especially as I pick away at tiny morsels of crab while he builds up a mountain of meat.

I got this recipe from [Doyle's Seafood Cookbook]. After all the death and mutilation it was very easy and made an impressive meal. I wasn't sure if the lobster would be enough for the two of us so I also made a rocket salad with roasted cherry tomatoes, pine nuts and deep fried breaded baby boccaccini.

Lobster Mornay

1 kg lobster
butter
2 green onions
1 bay leaf, crushed
½ cup white wine
grated cheese
breadcrumbs

White sauce
1½ tblsps butter
2 tblsps plain flour
1 cup fish stock
1 cup milk
freshly ground pepper
salt
dash of Tabasco

1. Place butter in a saucepan over a low heat and melt. Add flour and cook carefully for a few minutes, stirring, making sure no lumps form. Stir constantly to avoid burning or browning. Gradually stir in the fish stock and milk.
2. Boil gently for about 10 minutes until smooth and thick.
3. Cut lobster in half. Remove the flesh and cut up. Put the empty shells into a hot oven to get really hot.
4. Sauté the lobster meat in a little butter with chopped green onion an a crushed bay leaf, and then add the white wine. After the wine has evaporated, add the white sauce and reheat.
5. Have the grill nice and hot. Bring the lobster shells from the oven, pop your lobster mixture in, grate some cheese and breadcrumbs on top, and slide under the grill. Brown all over .
Of course, some habits are hard to break so I did have oysters and prawns for lunch with Manor. They now serve little containers of Tetsuya's Oyster Sauce to have there and then which was delicious with our dozen mixed oysters.

Smoked Salmon Topping

1 Packet of Smoked Salmon (Med)
1 Tbsp Capers rinsed and minced
4 Tbsp chopped parsley
200ml creme fraiche
Juice 1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper
Good pinch Cayenne Pepper
Crackers or Brown bread or Rye Bread.

1. Cut salmon up into small pieces with scissors.
2. Add rest of ingredients and stir gently until just mixed to a soft pate.
3. Keep in fridge until ready to use.

Poached Salmon with a Mustard, Dill and Caper Sauce

You can make the onions and sauce ahead of time and leave the salmon to cook while you are eating your starters. Than when clearing the plates away you reheat the onions throw in the spinach and warm the sauce through.
Serves 4

1 lemon
4 salmon fillets

CARAMELISED ONIONS
25g/1oz. butter
2tsp veg. oil
2 med. onions roughly chopped
1 tsp muscovado sugar
350g bag prepared spinach leaves

SAUCE
200ml tub crème fraiche
1tbsp Dijon mustard
1tbsp capers, drained, rinsed and roughly chopped
A small handful of fresh dill (ferns and soft stalk tips) chopped.

1. Make the caramelized onions. Melt butter with the oil in a large deep saucepan and tip in the onions and sugar. Cook over a low to med heat for 20-25 mins. Stirring occasionally until the onions are soft and caramelized
2. Meanwhile make the sauce. Tip the crème fraiche into a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer over a low heat. Stir in the mustard, capers and dill and let the sauce simmer gently for 4-5 mins stirring now and again. Remove from the heat and set aside
3. Pour boiling water from the kettle into a flameproof casserole to come to 8 cm up the sides. Cut 2 slices off the lemon and add to the water with a pinch of salt. Bring back to the boil then immediately turn off the heat and lower in the salmon fillets skin side down. Cover the pan with its lid and leave undisturbed for 5-10 mins depending whether you like your salmon slightly rare in the centre or cooked all the way through.
4. To serve turn up the heat under the onions, toss in the spinach and stir until the leaves are just wilted. Quickly reheat the sauce then taste it for seasoning adding a squeeze of lemon juice if you think it needs it. Spoon the onions and spinach on to the plates put the salmon on top and spoon the sauce over and around. Put some dill on top of each piece.

Dishy Fish Chowder

A meal in itself. Serve with warm crusty bread takes 20 mins. Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil
1 lg. potato peeled and cut into big chunks
1 med. onion chopped
1 fat garlic clove finely chopped or 1 tsp. garlic paste.
2X400g cans chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
splash soy sauce
410g can cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed.
500g/1lb 2oz plump cod or other white fillets cut into big chunks.
a handful of fresh parsley chopped.

1. Start frying. Heat the oil in a lg. frying pan or wok. Dry the potatoes in kitchen paper and tip into the hot fat. Cook them covered over a med. to high heat for 5 mins stirring occasionally until potatoes are golden. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 3-4 mins more on a fairly high heat until the onion is nicely browned.
2. Mix in the flavourings. Stir in the tomatoes, the tomato puree, thyme and soy sauce and let it bubble away for a couple of mins to make a sauce.
3. Stir in the beans and salt and pepper then sit the fish on top, tucking it into the sauce. Don't stir or the fish will break up. Cover and simmer for 5 mins, just until the fish is cooked. Serve sprinkled with parsley.

Braised Calamari

1 Calamari
2 Small octopi
1 Spicy Sausage
2 King Prawns
Stuffing
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 sticks of celery
Fresh herbs
Breadcrumbs
1 Egg
Salt & pepper
Sauce
Fish stock
Good white wine
¼ pt double cream

1. Process onion, garlic, herbs & celery and sauté in olive oil.
2. Add breadcrumbs and egg.
3. Tie string around end of Calamari and stuff
4. Sautee in hot oil until brown all over
5. Put in oven dish and cover with wine & stock.
6. Braise in oven @ 180 degrees for 1.5 – 2 hours
7. Once cooked remove from dish and keep warm.
8. Reduce liquid over flame.
9. Add sausage, prawns and cream. Season. Let thicken.
10. Pan fry octopus for 30 secs and serve with the rest of the dish