Marinated Mussel Salad

One of my favorite dishes is marinated mussels. The method is very simple and quick. At certain times of the year mussels are fat and juicy and then they make an excellent meal.

First of all, clean the mussels and then open them in a hot pan. I just cook them in the pan without placing any liquid in it. This seems to keep the mussels plumper than if they were cooked in wine, for example. Simply heat the pan until it is hot and then add the cleaned mussels. Put on a lid and shake the pan from time to time. The mussels will cook in 2 or 3 minutes. Meanwhile prepare a suitable marinade. After the mussels are opened, remove the mussels from the shells and cool them slightly. Allow the cooking liquid drain off them. Then add the mussels to the marinade. The mussels may be eaten warm or cooled in the refrigerator. I prefer the mussels served still warm  served with a green salad. However, if you like, they make a great stand-alone 'tapas' dish.

You need:
1kg of opened and shelled mussels

For the marinade
3 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 clove of garlic, minced
6 sprigs of parsley, chopped finely
2 tsp chopped oregano or other chopped hebs
1/4 tsp chilli flakes

Stuffed Zucchini Flowers with Ricotta Cheese

We grow zucchini flowers in our garden over summer just for this dish. The special zucchini flower seeds which we use seem to grow mainly male flowers so there are usually quite a lot of flowers each day to pick. In this dish the flowers are filled with ricotta cheese which has been mixed with fresh oregano from the garden and then steamed. The flowers are served in a butter sauce with pine-nut sauce. They flowers are one of my favourite entrees which are why we grow the zucchini flowers.

around 12 zucchini flowers
a small bunch of fresh oregano, chopped
200g ricotta preferably from a tub of fresh ricotta
50g butter
olive oil
1 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
the juice of 1 lemon

Remove the stamens from inside the flowers and trim the ends. Mix the oregano with the ricotta cheese and season with salt and pepper. Put the mixture into a small plastic sandwich bag and trim of the corner of the bag with a pair of scissors to make a piping bag. Pipe the ricotta mixture into each of the zucchini flowers and seal each flower by twisting the end. Place in a vessel to steam the flowers, drizzling a little olive oil over the flowers. I use a metal colander placed over boiling water in a saucepan and covered with a lid for steaming the flowers.
Steam the flowers for 4 minutes and then place the flowers on a serving plate.
Meanwhile heat the butter in a small pan until it is golden and foaming. Add the pine nuts and the juice of the squeezed lemon. Pour gently over the zucchini flowers and serve immediately.

Pork and Veal Terrine

It is summer here in Australia at the moment. It is good to have some cold meat for picnics or as an entrée and what could be better than a pork and veal terrine? It is easy to make, relatively inexpensive and most importantly, is delicious.

1 kg pork and veal mince
7 crushed juniper berries
10 lightly crushed black peppercorns
1⁄4 tsp mixed spice
1⁄4 tsp dried thyme
1 sprig rosemary, chopped finely
12 pistachios, chopped
4 chopped prunes
20ml dry white wine
 40ml brandy
50g chopped onions
1 clove chopped garlic
1⁄2 tsp salt
3 short-cut rashers of bacon, chopped

Sprinkle the chopped prunes with a small amount of the wine and brandy. Set the prunes and chopped bacon aside. Now mix together everything except the chopped prunes and bacon. Leave the mixture in a covered basin in the fridge for at least two hours for the flavours to be absorbed in the terrine.

Place half the mixture in an unbuttered terrine. Now sprinkle the bacon and prunes on top of this to form another layer. Finally place another layer of terrine mixture in the dish.

Place the terrine in a baking dish filled with water and cook at 150°C for 1 1⁄4 to 1 1⁄2 hours. The terrine is cooked when it comes away from the side of the dish.

Stuffed Mushrooms

This is one of my favourite Spanish tapas. They are great also as an entrée.

To make this dish you need:
12 mushrooms
4 long green onions
2 slices of prosciutto
200ml white wine (or you can just open a bottle of wine and serve the rest with the meal)
a handful of chopped parsley
50ml olive oil
salt
pepper


Clean the mushrooms, remove the stems from the caps of the mushrooms and cut the stems of the mushrooms into small pieces. Chop the onion, garlic and parsley.
Now sauté the onion and garlic in a pan with some olive oil. Then add the prosciutto, cook for a few moments and then add the choppped mushroom stems and sauté the mixture until soft. Now add about 2Tbsp white wine until reduced a bit and finally add the chopped parsley. Let the mixture cool.
Fill the mushroom caps with cooled mixture, put them in a baking dish with a little oil,  about 50 ml white wine and sprinkle with pepper. Cook at 180°C for about 15 minutes or until soft. Serve hot or cold.

Tortilla

Spanish-style tortillas are one of my favourite foods, whether served hot, served cold on a picnic, or best of all, served sliced and warm in a baguette on a picnic high in the Pyrenees, with a glass of red wine.

1 large potato, diced
1 onion, chopped finely
4 eggs
pinch of salt
olive oil

Pre-cook the diced potato in a covered plastic container in the microwave for 3 to 4 minutes until softened slightly. Meanwhile cook the onion in a small non-stick frypan moistened with olive oil until the onion has softened. Add the softened potato and gently cook with the onion until they are both soft but not browned. In a basin, mix the eggs and salt. Add the potato and onion to the egg mixture and return the whole lot back to the frypan. Cook over the stove until the bottom of the tortilla is set. Meanwhile heat the griller and when the bottom of the tortilla is set, put the frypan under the griller to set the top. A useful technique is: when the top of the tortilla is set slightly, take the pan from the stove, put a plate on top of the pan and quickly invert the whole lot so that the tortilla is on the plate. Now slide the tortilla back into the pan and cook it a for a while on top of the stove. You should aim to keep the centre of the tortilla slightly runny.

Remove the tortilla and serve hot or let it cool and then serve. It is a great dish to serve on a picnic in a sandwich sliced between 2 halves of baguette.

Terrine

1 kg pork and veal mince
7 crushed juniper berries
10 lightly crushed black peppercorns
1⁄4 tsp mixed spice
1⁄4 tsp dried thyme
1 sprig rosemary, chopped finely
12 pistachios, chopped
4 chopped prunes
1⁄2 espresso cup dry white wine
2 tbsp brandy
50g chopped onions
1 clove chopped garlic
11⁄2 tsp salt
3 short-cut rashers of bacon, chopped

Sprinkle the chopped prunes with a small amount of the wine and brandy. Set the prunes and chopped bacon aside. Now mix together everything except the reserved chopped prunes and bacon. Leave the mixture in a covered basin in the fridge for at least two hours for the flavours to be absorbed in the terrine.
Place half the mixture in an unbuttered terrine. Now sprinkle the bacon and prunes on top of this to form another layer. Finally place another layer of terrine mixture in the dish.
Place the terrine in a baking dish filled with water and cook at 150°C (310°F) for 11⁄4 to 11⁄2 hours. The terrine is cooked when it comes away from the side of the dish.

Curried Watermelon

This dish is great to have with pre-dinner drinks. It may be made several hours before using.
Serve with individual forks or toothpicks.
It is very good to have with with sparkling wine. It is low calorie and has a low glycemic load.

Watermelon
Lemon or lime
Keens curry powder
Fresh Vietnamese hot mint (or plain mint)
Chilli flakes (optional)

• Cube several slices of seedless watermelon and place in a bowl.
• Squeeze half a large lemon or whole small one (lime is even better) and mix into the lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of Keens curry.
• Shred some mint.
• Tip the lemon/curry mix, mint and chilli flakes onto the watermelon and gently coat.