Pear Cake

This recipe is very quick to make since it can be made almost entirely in a food-processor. It is great to have in your repertoire for when unexpected guests call.

INGREDIENTS
100g icing sugar
150g softened butter
100g plain flour
50g almond meal
3 eggs
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp rosewater or orange water
2 pears
brown sugar for sprinkling after cooking (although any sugar you have to hand will do).

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Now add all of the ingredients with the exception of the pears and additional sugar into a food processor and blitz until the mixture is pale and creamy.
Spoon the mixture into a greased 20cm tin (preferably spring form if you have one).
Peel and quarter pears. Layer gently on top of the mixture and bake for about 45 minutes or until cooked. Sprinkle sugar over after about 20 minutes. If the cake is browning too quickly cover with tin foil.

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.

Garlic Prawns

This is one of my favourite dishes. A Spanish-style dish, it combines the seafood taste of prawns with the a sauce based on garlic and paprika.

a good "glug" of olive oil
3/4 - 1 kg prawns
3-6 garlic cloves, finely chopped - add more if you like garlic
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup of white wine
1 tsp smoked paprika
1⁄2 tsp chilli pepper (to taste)
4 tbsp Italian parsley, chopped
salt and fresh ground pepper

• Peel and devein the prawns.
• In a wide, shallow pan over high heat, heat the olive oil; add the prawns, then add the garlic and sauté quickly for about 2-3 minutes.Add the garlic at a point when the prawns are half cooked so they garlic doesn't blacken.
• Add the lemon juice, paprika, chilli pepper, wine and salt and pepper to taste. Adjust all of these to your liking.
• Finally, transfer the garlic prawns to a warmed serving dish, sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve at once.

Barbecued Leg of Lamb

As I mentioned in an earlier post, it is summer here in Australia, which of course is a good time for a barbecue, but then any time is a good time for a barbecue. One of my favourite summer meals is barbecued leg of lamb. I buy the lower half of the leg, and starting from the side of the leg with least meat, slice down the leg and then remove the bone so that I have have a triangular piece of meat left. I butterfly this so that it is about 4 or 5cm thick. If you wish you can butterfly a whole leg of lamb which would feed more people. Here is my recipe using quantities for half a leg.

1 half leg of lamb, about 1.2kg

3 garlic cloves
a knob of fresh ginger
grated rind of 1 lemon or lime
2 teaspoons ground cumin
3 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 cup of olive oil

Remove the lamb from the refrigerator 1 hour before cooking.

Put the garlic,  ginger, cumin, coriander and paprika in a mortar and pound into a rough paste with the pestle. Add the grated rind of a lemon or lime and pound for a further minute, then stir in the olive oil and mix well. You can also process this in a food processor if you wish. Spread the marinade over the lamb by hand, working it in to the meat with your fingers, and leave about an hour for the flavours to infuse the lamb.

This lamb can be barbecued over a gas-fired barbecue grill, or better still, over a charcoal grill. When the barbecue is hot, put the lamb on. Cook for about 12 minutes on each side for medium rare. Put on a plate and cover withe foil. Rest in a warm place for 10 minutes before carving.

When the lamb has been rested, carve the meat into 5mm slices and serve.

I barbecued the lamb with some potatoes wrapped in foil. They are a delicious accompaniment!

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.

Baked Hake in Yogurt, Mustard and Herbs

In Australia since Hake is unavilable use Blue Grenadier or Blue-eye.This is an easily prepared and quick dish which is delicious. It is not necessary to skin the filets but if you wish you can do this. Which herbs you use depends on your taste and what is available in your garden. If you wish, you can use 1/2 a teaspoon of dried herbs as a replacement for fresh herbs.

To serve 2:

500g hake fillets

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp fresh chopped herbs

1/4 tsp ground ginger

3 tbsp yoghurt

Spanish paprika

Method:

Place the fillets into a baking dish. I like to use an earthenware dish which can then be used to serve the fish

Mix the other ingredients except the paprika in a small bowl and then spoon over fish. Now sprinkle some paprika over the top and bake in a very hot oven at  about 220°C for about 20 minutes.

Mussels in Tomato Sauce

 I recently spent some time in Sydney. At a café there I had a delicious plate of what the restaurant called Italian Mussels. This is my attempt at something similar. I have used oregano as flavouring which may make this dish more like a Greek Mussels dish. On the other hand, the smoked paprika gives it a Spanish feel.


1 kg mussels
1 large onion
2 large garlic cloves, sliced finely
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (450g)
200 ml white wine
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp paprika
1 pinch dried chilli flakes
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh oregano
black pepper
1 bay leaf
olive oil

First find a large pan or pot with a heavy base. Heat some olive oil in the pan, then add the onions and garlic and let them fry gently until they are translucent. Add the paprika, chilli flakes and chopped tomatoes. Now add the white wine, oregano and bay leaf. Simmer the sauce gently until it thickens.
Meanwhile clean the mussels. Remove the beards and clean the outside of the shells Throw out any mussels that are broken or that don't close when you touch them.
Open the mussels in a saucepan. Then add the opened mussels to the tomato sauce together with a little of the mussel juice. Mix the mussels into the sauceso that the flavours of the sauce assimilate with the mussels.
Serve in large bowls.

Fast Tuna Patties

These patties are easy and fast to make, have a low glycemic load and unlike many similar recipes, do not contain mashed potatoes. If the patties are rolled very firmly, they stay intact during the cooking process. Also, putting them in the fridge if time permits will help this also. Adjust flavorings to taste.

Ingredients

425 g can tuna in springwater, drained
1 onion
handful of parsley
1 egg
3 slices bread
1⁄4 cup sweet chilli sauce, or 1 tablespoon chilli bean paste
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper, to taste
Oil for shallow-frying
Method
1.Blitz the onion and parsley using a cutting blade. Now blitz the bread slices without removing the onion.
2.Change the blade to a plastic one.
3.Add the tuna, egg and chilli sauce. Blitz until smooth.
4.Firmly roll mixture into balls or patties, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
5.Shallow fry until browned and heated through.

Serve with lemon juice.