Haloumi with Balsamic Mediterranean Salad

Haloumi with Balsamic Mediterranean Salad

Yet another dish I whipped up for our Saturday night rendezvous, I found this a perfect entrée or plate that can be shared with friends when having a few drinks. And it is super easy to prepare as most of the ingredients can be sourced from your local deli, and all you need to do is fry the haloumi, toast the accompanying bread and arrange it on the serving plate.

Ingredients:

2 whole slices Marinated Eggplant
2 whole slices Marinated Red Capsicum
1 – 2 Handfuls of Rocket
1 tablespoon Olive Oil – good quality
250grams Haloumi (ask for the least salty variety on offer)
Balsamic Vinegar (to drizzle over salad)
Sourdough Bread

Cut the eggplant and capsicum into slices.

Place theses slices into a bowl along with the rocket leaves and toss.

Drizzle about one tablespoon Olive Oil over the salad and combined well being careful not to bruise the rocket leaves.

Place on to one side of your serving plate.

Cut your bread into individual sized portions and toast or grill.

Heat a non-stick fry pan to medium heat. Whilst the pan is heating, slice your Haloumi into ½ centimetre thickness strips.

Fry the haloumi in the fry pan until just golden. (Over cooking will lead to a dry and rubbery texture).

Place haloumi next to the salad on your serving plate.

Drizzle the salad with balsamic vinegar and serve with crusty toast.

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Mini Quiches

Mini Quiches

These quiches make great finger food and I made them for a get together we were having at out place on Saturday night. The can be prepared and cooked well in advance and they can be eaten hot or cold, so they are a great option for casual nibbles with a wine or beer!

Ingredients:
3 large eggs
4 1/2 tablespoons cream
3 teaspoons grated onion
Pinch of ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
Ingredients to your liking all finely chopped (I did 3 combinations: ham/chive, capsicum/cheddar, spinach/fetta)

Preheat oven to 210 degrees Celsius (190 degrees Celsius fan-forced).

Spray oil onto muffin pan to grease.

Using a fork or small whisk, beat eggs, cream, grated onion, nutmeg, salt and pepper in a small bowl until well combined.

Using a round cutter roughly the same size as your muffin pan holes, cut circles from each sheet of pastry.

Line each muffin hole with a pastry round.

Divide your selected toppings evenly amongst your pastry cases.

Spoon egg mixture on top off your chosen toppings to cover each topping in each pastry case.

Bake for about 20-30 minutes, or until quiches are golden and puffed. (If pastry is still not cooked on the bottom, cover the top of each tray with Aluminium foil and place back into the oven at a lower temperature for a further 10 minutes).

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Baked Fish with Parmesan Crumbs

Baked Fish with Parmesan Crumbs

Ingredients
(serves 4)

1/2 cup fresh multi-grain breadcrumbs
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
olive oil to coat
4 (about 200g each) thick white fish steaks (such as blue eye or kingfish, Salmon could also be used)
olive oil cooking spray
steamed snow peas, boiled chat potatoes and tomato to serve

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Combine breadcrumbs, parsley, parmesan, lemon rind, and salt and pepper in a bowl. Stir to combine.

Drizzle mixture with oil. Stir until breadcrumbs are coated in oil.

Press breadcrumb mixture onto flesh-side of fish fillets to form an even topping.

Place fish, skin-side down, onto a baking tray. Spray lightly with oil. Add a tomato for each person on the same tray.

Bake for 15 minutes or until crumbs are light golden and fish is just cooked through.

Serve with steamed snow peas, potatoes, oven softened tomato and lemon wedges.

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Modern Prawn Cocktail

Modern Prawn Cocktail

The legendary, if somewhat outdated, prawn cocktail generally consisted of shredded iceberg lettuce, cocktail sauce and avocado on the side and could typically be found at any cockatil party in the 1970's. Since it's humble beginnings the Prawn Cocktail is still a favourite and the recipe below is a fresh and tasty spin on a tried and true winner. Perfect for an entree as we did at our dinner party on Saturday night, or as a easy summer lunch!

Ingredients

(serves 4)
16 cooked Prawns de-veined & shelled, with tails on.
2 Avocados, cubed
5 Cherry tomatoes halved
1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 teaspoons chopped Coriander
½ cup diced Spanish Onion
Salt
Pepper

Basil oil
Handful of Basil leaves
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Chilli oil
½ Red Capsicum
Tabasco Sauce (to your desired heat tolerance!)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Basil oil
Hand chop a handful of basil leaves until fine. Place in a bowl and mix with olive oil until completely covered. Alternatively, place in blender with enough oil until it turns to a sauce consistency. Place in fridge to infuse.

Chilli oil
Hand chop the capsicum until diced very small. Place capsicum in a bowl and mix in a teaspoon of Tabasco Sauce, then add olive oil until completely covered. Place in fridge to infuse. (this could also be done in a blender if desired).

Prawn/Avocado Stack
Place the halved tomatoes into the oven for 15mins on 200C. Take out and let cool.

Dice the cooked tomatoes roughly, then loosely mix the avocado, tomato, lemon juice, coriander, olive oil and onion in a bowl being careful not to mash the avocado.

Once well combined, place 3 tablspoons (more of less depending on how much avocado you want) into a biscuit cutter on the centre of a plate.

Press it down gently into the mold with the back of a fork to provide a snug fit. Pull the mold away revealing a self-standing avocado stack.

Arrange 4 prawns on top of the avocado stack.

Place the basil and chilli oils around the avocado on the plate.

Garnish with a sprig of coriander.

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Mushroom, White Wine and Basil Sauce

Mushroom, White Wine and Basil Sauce

This creation came when we were just about to cook our gnocchi. It is so simple and quick and it's also very tasty which helps!

This sauce would suit any pasta dish and some suggestions for variations include:

- Add Chilli for bite.

- Omit Oil for butter and add cream at the end for a creamy version.

-If you can'only find dried porcini mushrooms - prepare them by placing in a bowl and pouring t enough boiling water to cover for 20 minutes or until they've expanded. Drain them, then chop them.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon of butter
350gram white button or swiss brown mushrooms, sliced
150grams fresh porcini mushrooms, sliced
2 teaspoons garlic, chopped finely
1 cup white wine, dry
1 chicken stock cube
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
1 pinch ground pepper
Flat leaf parsley, chopped
Prosciutto, fried to serve

In a large fry pan over high heat, heat oil until hot, then add butter stirring into oil until it melts.

Add white/swiss and porcini mushrooms and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until mushroom liquid has nearly evaporated, about 6 minutes.

Crush stock cube over mushrooms then add wine; cook, stirring occasionally, until wine is slightly reduced and the stock cube dissolves, about 4 minutes.

Add basil, and pepper and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until well combined. About 1 minute.

Grab your gnocchi or pasta and stir through sauce until well coated.

Serve with fresh parsley sprinkled on top and some crispy prosciutto for added texture.

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Salmon Patties

Salmon Patties

Salmon patties are an old childhood favourite and Craig and I recently revisited them, the weekend just gone. They are great for a light Sunday dinner and are just as delicious the next day also on a sandwich! I like mine very oniony so if onion if not your thing – then you can easily omit the onion or shallots or both!

As with all recipes there are variations so here are a few ideas:
- make smaller sized ones as finger food at your next party
- leave out the breadcrumbs for gluten free meal
-use herb and garlic breadcrumbs, or for other varieties look under breadcrumbs in this blog for suggestions!

INGREDIENTS
500g potatoes, peeled,
30g butter/margarine¼ cup (60ml) milk
Salt & Pepper to taste1 Celery Stalk – diced finely
2 Shallots – sliced finely
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
½ handful of flat leaf parsley – finely chopped (optional)
415g can red salmon, drained, with bones and skin removed

¼ cup (20g) grated parmesan (optional)

2 eggs
¼ cup (35g) plain flour

¾ cup (50g) dry breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons olive oil

salad, chips

lemon wedges, to serve

Cook potatoes in a saucepan of boiling water until tender., Remove from heat. Drain off water and mash lightly with a fork or potato ricer if you have one.

Add butter and milk, and salt & pepper to taste beating until very smooth. Set mashed potato aside to cool completely.Flake salmon into a medium mixing bowl. Add mashed potato, 1 egg (lightly beaten), celery, shallots, onion and parsley. Season to taste and mix well to combine.

Divide salmon mixture into patties (a bit bigger than the size of a golf ball).

In 3 separate containers, have the plain flour, the second egg (lightly beaten with fork) and the breadcrumbs ready.
Dust with flour, brush with beaten egg and coat with breadcrumbs

Place the crumbed patties on a plate, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

When ready to cook, heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan on medium heat. Cook patties for 3-5 minutes each side, until golden.

Drain excess oil on kitchen paper, drizzle with a squeeze of lemon and serve hot with salad and hot chips.

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Potato Gnocchi

Ever since he saw it being done on Masterchef, Craig has been at me to make this recipe. I hunted down a Potato ricer on my travels in my lunch break the other day and so we set about making some homemade gnocchi from scratch. I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of Gnocchi. I find it quite filling and gluggy and can never seem to get through a whole bowl full. Admittedly, I have only used the supermarket packet ones and maybe that is where I was going wrong, because this recipe produced very light little gnocchi's, a pure delight to eat! (Though I would still recommend small serves :)

Potato Gnocchi

Ingredients
750g desiree potatoes, unpeeled (very important to use this variety of potato)
1 1/3 cups (200g) plain flour, plus a little extra

Salt to taste

(serves 4)

Place the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with cold water then bring to the boil over high heat. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until just tender when tested with a skewer (don't test too much as potatoes will become waterlogged).

Drain the potatoes well and set aside until just cool enough to handle. While still hot, peel by hand and discard skins. The potato skins should have started to crack which will make this easier. (I used a vegetable peeler to remove stubborn bits of skin as it is very important to remove ALL skin so it doesn't end up in the silky gnocchi bites).

Using a potato ricer (think of a large garlic crusher) or mouli, press each potato into a bowl. The outcome should resemble grated cheese. Season to taste with salt. Cool slightly, but not completely.

Add flour to the warm potatoes then use your hands to knead briefly until a soft dough forms.

Note: If mixture is still sticky, add a little more flour (the amount of flour added is very important!)

Too much flour = heavy, tough gnocchi

Too little flour = dough falling apart during cooking

Place gnocchi dough on to a lightly floured surface.

Cut dough into 4 equal-sized pieces. Using your hands, gently roll each piece out to form a log about 2cm wide. Using a lightly floured knife, cut each log into 1.5cm-long pieces.

Roll each ball of gnocchi over the prongs of a lightly-floured fork, pressing gently with your index finger or thumb underneath as you go, to form a dent in the back of each one and fork marks on the other side (this creates a textured surface, helping sauces to cling to cooked gnocchi).

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add 1/4 of the gnocchi. As they cook, gnocchi will rise to the surface of the water. Continue cooking gnocchi at the surface for about 10 seconds then remove with a large slotted spoon and drain well. Repeat with remaining gnocchi.

Toss gnocchi through your favourite sauce and serve immediately.

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Prawn Saganaki

Prawn Saganaki

This is a Greek originated dish that is both delicious and healthy and packed with flavour. I find that the many recipes out on the internet vary greatly on their authenticity and ingredients which make’s this dish easily adaptable to any level cook as you can choose to be as complicated with the techniques/ingredients or as easy as you like.

I have tried variations on both extremes and some in the middle and I have finally created my own version that seems to work everytime.

Ingredients

12 - 16 green king prawns

2 cloves garlic, peeled, diced
1 long red chilli, thinly sliced

1/4 cup chopped basil leaves

Extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt
Cracked Pepper

10 small-medium red vine tomatoes
15 small grape or roma tomatoes
Parmesan (shaved) or Fetta (Crumbled) –for serving

Lemon Juice - to taste

1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley leaves

Preheat oven 250°C (fan-forced).

(Note: You can do this step now or whilst the prawns are marinating).Place the 10 small-medium red vine tomatoes on an oven tray and sprinkle with sea salt and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Place in heated oven for approx. 10 – 20mins until they begin to soften and blister. Remove from oven and set aside to cool on bench.

Begin preparing the prawns by cutting off the heads with a sharp knife. On the underside of the prawn (where legs are) use kitchen scissors to cut along from where head was removed to the beginning of the tail, then use a sharp knife along the same line you just used the scissors on, to further butterfly the prawns open. Leave prawn meat and shell intact.

Remove the digestive tract and wipe clean with paper towel. Place cut-side up onto a plate.

Press garlic and chilli over the prawn meat, drizzle with olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and season with a pinch of sea salt. Cover and marinate in the fridge for up to 1 hour.

Heat an oven-proof frying pan over high heat until hot. Add enough oil to cover the base then add prawns flesh side down.

Add the basil and cook for 2 minutes, gently pressing flat with a spatula until golden. Turn over and cook few more minutes.

Scatter both the fresh and the pre cooked tomatoes over the pan, season with salt and transfer to the oven.

Cook for 3 minutes until tomatoes just blistered.

Remove from the oven, crumble over the parmesan/feta, scatter over the parsley, drizzle with olive oil and a little lemon juice and sprinkle with salt and cracked pepper. Serve in the pan.

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