Birthday Dinner

My family welcomes any excuse to host a dinner party. So naturally, on my Birthday Mum and Dad invited my Grandparents and Great Grandparents over for dinner.

 Dinner had to be simple a birthday is time to celebrate not to spend hours in the kitchen.  After much discussion, we decided to cook Jamie Oliver’s “Tray-baked lamb with aubergines, tomatoes, olives, garlic and mint oil”

The fresh flavours of this dish are perfect for spring. It is the ultimate warm weather version of traditional roast lamb. It tastes amazing and is easy to prepare and cook.  

It is a wonderful Spring lamb dish.

Tray-baked lamb with aubergines, tomatoes, olives, garlic and mint oil

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2x7 rib racks of lamb, preferably organic, French trimmed

2 firm aubergines (zucchinis)

8 ripe plum tomatoes

Extra virgin olive oil

8 cloves of garlic skin left on

Dried oregano

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Optional: fresh basil or marjoram

1 handful olives, destoned

1 large handful fresh mint

A pinch of sugar

Good red wine vinegar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Criss-cross the fat on the lamb – this will help it render and become nice and crisp. Place to one side.

Slice your aubergines crossways into 2.5cm/1 inch thick pieces and cut your tomatoes in half. Lightly brush your aubergine slices all over with extra virgin olive oil, then fry on both sides in a non-stick pan to give them just a little colour. Remove the aubergines from the pan and place on one side of a clean roasting tray. Put your halved tomatoes and whole garlic cloves beside them and sprinkle with a little oregano and seasoning. You could always rip a little fresh basil or marjoram over the tomatoes as well.

Season the lamb and fry in your non-stick pan until lightly golden on all sides. Drizzle with a little olive oil, then place the lamb skin-side up next to your aubergines and tomatoes and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes to retain a little pinkness – but you can always cook it but to suit your taste. Add the olives to the roasting tray for the last 5 minutes so they warm through. Remove from the oven and allow the lamb to rest for 5 minutes.

Now make some fantastic mint oil. Put the mint into either a pestle and mortar or a blender with a pinch each of salt and sugar, and blitz up until smooth. Add a couple of tablespoons of good red wine vinegar and loosen with 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Season to taste and tweak with a little vinegar if need be. This is a fantastic sauce that is great drizzled over your veg and lamb. I like to cut my lamb in half between the ribs and then divide each half into 3 or 4 cutlets. There's always an extra rib, but that doesn't necessarily mean that someone else gets more meat than you.

PS When you buy your racks of lamb, ask your butcher to ‘French-trim’ them, which means that all the bones are scraped clean – this looks nice and pretty and it cooks easier as well.

Jamie Oliver “Happy Days with the Naked Chef”

Sri Lankan Treat

Rick Stein’s Coconut Chilli Crab

This recipe is from “Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey”. He came across it in a little dark steamy Sri Lankan restaurant. Rick writes that the chefs were preparing the dish with enthusiasm, even though the temperature was over 40 degrees.  

I have made this recipe several times with crab but this time used lobster just as successfully. The crab is delicious but the lobster is a bit easier to eat.

This dish is not for the faint hearted. It is very messy to eat and the effort is well rewarded. The sweet meat that is hidden in the legs and the head of the crab or lobster takes time and perseverance.  Once you overcome these difficulties, this dish is amazing.

My favourite thing about this dish is that when you add the cinnamon and ginger to the pan they become very aromatic and fill the house with their delicious scent.  Every time you add a new ingredient the colour and smell of the curry evolves becoming richer and more fragrant.

Coconut Chilli Crab

Kakuluwo uyala

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1.8kg Asian blue swimming crabs or 2 x 900g brown crabs live or cooked, prepared and cut into chunks

3 tbsp vegetable oil

10cm cinnamon stick, broken into smaller pieces

½ tsp fenugreek seeds

200g onions or shallots, finely chopped

50g garlic, crushed

50g peeled ginger, finely grated

½ tsp turmeric powder

2 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder

2 tbsp Roasted Sri Lankan curry powder

150g chopped tomato, fresh or from a can

1 litre coconut milk

10-12 curry leaves

2 green cayenne chillies slit open length ways

25g finely grated coconut

1 tbsp uncooked rice

1tbsp lime juice

Heat the oil in a large, deep pan. Add the cinnamon pieces and fenugreek seeds and leave them to sizzle for a few seconds, then add the onion and cook for 5-6 minutes until lightly golden. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 2 minutes. Add the turmeric, chilli powder and curry powder and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and fry for 1-2 minutes until they begin to soften, then add the coconut milk, curry leaves, chillies and 1 teaspoon salt and bring to a simmer. Leave to simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a dry, heavy based frying pan over medium heat. Add the coconut and cook, stirring constanly, until golden brown. Set aside on a plate to cool. Repeat the process with the uncooked rice. When both are cool tip them into a mortar and pestle and grind to a fine powder.

Add the crab pieces to the curry sauce, bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes, turning the pieces over now and then so that they cook evenly. To serve, lift the crabs into a large, warmed serving bowl. Stir in the roasted coconut and rice powder into the sauce and simmer for 2-3 minutes until thickened. Stir in the lime juice, pour back over the crab and serve.

“Rick stein’s far eastern odyssey”

Seafood Feast

Bouillabaisse

There is nothing quite like seafood that you have caught yourself. Knowing exactly where and when it was caught enables you to get the freshest and finest quality seafood available. On the menu today I have hand-caught lobster, line- caught snapper (both from the crystal blue waters of the South Coast), New Zealand mussels and some Australian banana prawns.

With these beautiful ingredients I start to hunt for the perfect recipe. After scouring through countless cook books I stumble across a classic French soup which is just right. Plenty of garlic and tomatoes, this soup promised to be amazing.

The recipe called for a variety of seafood but as I had the lobsters I decided to leave out the scampi, scallops and fish fillets. My dad would cook his prize snapper in ginger soy marinade.

The lobsters looked daunting with their spiked shells and long feelers but they needed to be cleaned and cut into manageable size chunks. I am sure that with practice a lobster can be cut up easily but my first attempt took a while.

This soup was cooked for a Sunday lunch, with my grandparents and my great grandparents gathered round. I chose to cook this soup as they love seafood and I wanted to cook them something a little different and that they would not have tried before. The soup and my dad’s snapper were a hit all round with my pop saying “It’s the best seafood I’ve ever had!”

Bouillabaisse Recipe:

I would recommend halving the amount of aioli and rouille. Also the recipe says that it serves 6 but I served 8.

Preparation time: 35 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

500g mussels

1kg scampi

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 small leeks (400g), chopped finely

1 large fennel bulb (650g), sliced thinly

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 Thai red chilli, seeded chopped finely

6 medium tomatoes (1.2kg), peeled and chopped coarsely

2 litres (8 cups) fish stock

6 saffron threads

400g firm white fish fillets, chopped coarsely

200g scallops

2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

AIOLI

4 cloves garlic, quartered

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup (250ml) olive oil

ROUILLE

2 medium red capsicums (400g)

2 Thai red chillies, seeded, chopped coarsely

1 clove garlic, quartered

2 tablespoons stale breadcrumbs

¼ cup (60ml) olive oil

Method:

1.       Scrub mussels under cold water; remove beards. Shell and devein half of the scampi; remove the heads from remaining half.

2.       Heat oil in a large heavy based saucepan; cook leak, fennel, garlic and chilli, stirring, about 10 minutes or until leek softens. Add tomato, stock and saffron; bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered, about 20 minutes or until tomato is pulpy, stirring occasionally. Strain mixture into large clean saucepan; discard vegetables.

3.       Bring stock mixture to a boil. Add mussels and scampi; simmer, uncovered, about 10 minutes or until mussels open (discard any that do not).

4.       Add fish and scallops to pan; simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Just before serving, stir in parsley. Serve with aioli and rouille.

AIOLI: blend or process garlic, egg yolks and juice until creamy. With motor operating, gradually

Add oil; process until aioli thickens.

ROUILLE: Quarter capsicums, remove and discard seeds and membranes. Roast under grill or in very hot oven, skin side up, until skin blisters and blackens. Cover capsicum pieces with plastic or paper for 5 minutes; peel away skin, chop coarsely. Process capsicum, chilli, garlic and breadcrumbs until combined. With motor operating, gradually add oil; process until rouille thickens.

Serves 6

Winter Favourite

Osso Bucco

 About week ago I made Matt Moran's "Veal Osso Bucco with soft polenta" (instead of polenta I served it with Gordon Ramsay's pomme puree) it was the best Osso Bucco I have ever had, with a gorgeous rich tomato sauce and melt in your mouth slow cooked veal on top of creamy pomme puree. This recipe is perfect for a special occasion.  It takes more than 3 hours to cook and is a bit expensive but it is well worth the effort.

Veal osso bucco with soft polenta

1.2kg veal osso bucco

Salt and pepper

Olive oil, for pan frying

1 carrot, chopped

1 leek, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

6 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 thyme sprigs

6 vine ripened tomatoes, seeded and chopped

100ml Madeira

2 litres chicken stock

Grated zest of 1 orange

Grated zest of 1 lemon

1 bay leaf

10g butter

½ carrot extra, finely diced

½ leek extra, finely chopped

¼ celeriac, finely diced

 1 tablespoon chopped flat leaf parsley

2 vine ripened tomatoes, extra seeded and diced

Gremolata, to serve

POLENTA

150g polenta

40g butter

40g parmesan (preferably reggiano) , grated

1 tablespoon crème fraiche

Salt and pepper

Season the osso bucco with salt and pepper. Heat a little oil in a large saucepan, add the osso bucco and sear both sides until golden. Remove from the pan.

Add the carrot, leek, celery, garlic and thyme to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes until lightly browned. Add the chopped tomatoes and Madeira and simmer until reduced by a third. Return the osso bucco to the pan and cover with the chicken stock, citrus zest and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper, then cover and braise over medium heat for 2-3 hours, until the meat is tender.

To prepare the polenta, bring 750ml water to the boil in a saucepan. Sprinkle in the polenta and cook for 15 minutes, stirring constantly. Then stir in the butter, grated parmesan and crème fraiche. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Remove the osso bucco from the liquid. Cover and keep warm. Strain the cooking juices and return to the pan, skimming off any excess oil, then simmer until reduced to your desired consistency.

Melt the butter in a separate saucepan and cook the extra, carrot, leek and celeriac for 2-3 minutes until the leek starts to become translucent. Add this mixture to the sauce, then stir in the parsley an extra diced tomato.

To serve, spoon the polenta onto a plate, arrange the meat and vegetables on the polenta and spoon the sauce over the top. Finish with a spoonful of Gremolata and serve. 

Gremolata Recipe

½ a bunch of flat leaf parsley

½ clove of garlic

100ml olive oil

60ml lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Pick the leaves from the parsley, then use the pulse setting on a blender to mix the parsley, garlic and olive oil until combined (could use mortar and pestle). Add lemon juice to taste and season with salt and pepper.

If you want to serve it with the pomme puree instead of the soft polenta follow the recipe below

Perfect pomme puree

The potato may have humble origins but there isn't much 

to beat a beautiful bowl of mash

Gordon Ramsay

Serves 4-6


Making a perfect potato purée starts with choosing the right potato that holds its texture and absorbs a lot of cream and butter without “splitting” - when I worked for Joel Robuchon he was famed for his pomme purée, and it was only 30 per cent potato. For the best flavour, boil the potatoes in their skins, peel while hot wearing rubber gloves, then push them through a wire drum sieve. You could also achieve a similar texture with a mouli or old-fashioned potato “ricer”. Don’t be tempted to whiz the potatoes in a food processor, though, or you’ll end up with a gluey goo. Whichever method you use, the secret is to work it when it’s warm and starchy - it’s when it goes cold that it will become lumpy. So if you are running a bit behind, don’t be afraid to wrap it up in a warm cloth or put clingfilm over it - anything to keep it warm.


1kg medium Desiree potatoes, unpeeled
but washed
200ml double cream
Up to 90g butter, cut into small cubes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper


1 Boil the potatoes in lightly salted water for about 15 minutes until tender, then drain. Allow to cool a little, then, wearing rubber gloves, peel off the skins and cut the potatoes into large chunks.
2 Return the potatoes to the heat to dry off a little, then press through a drum sieve with a bowl scraper or push through a mouli or ricer into a bowl.
3 Meanwhile, boil the cream in a medium pan until reduced by half to 100ml. Beat this cream into the potatoes then gradually mix in the butter, depending on how rich you want it. If you’ve used good-quality spuds you should get the full amount in before it starts to look curdled, ie split. Add flavourings if you want.
4 Check the seasoning. Spoon into a warmed dish, cover and keep warm in a low oven for a few minutes before serving.

A simple osso bucco recipe is below. it isnt as rich as the Matt Moran recipe but it is a lot easier to make and isnt as expensive. this osso bucco has a fresh tomato flavour with a hint of lemon

This recipe is from The Australian Women's Weekly "Great Cooking Classics"

Osso Buco

90g butter

2 medium carrots, chopped finely

2 large brown onions, chopped finely

3 trimmed sticks celery, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

16 pieces veal shin or osso buco (2kg)

plain flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

2x 400g cans tomatoes

1/2 cup (125ml) dry red wine

1 3/4 cups beef stock

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

2.5cm strip lemon rind

1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

Heat a third  of the butter in a large saucepan, cook carrot, onion, celery and half the garlic until onion is lightly browned. Remove from heat; transfer vegetables to a large oven proof dish.

Coat veal with flour; shake away any excess flour.heat remaining butter and oil in same pan. add veal brown well on all sides. carefully pack veal on top of vegetables. preheat oven to moderate (180C).

Drain fat fro pan. add undrained crushed tomatoes, wine, stock, basil, thyme, bay leaf and strip of lemon rind to the same pan; bring sauce to a boil.

pour sauce over veal. cover casserole; bake in moderate oven about 1 1/2 hours or until veal is very tender, stirring occasionally. to serve sprinkle with combined garlic, parsley and grated lemon rind.

I served this dish with mashed potato and buttered brussel sprouts.

Hope everyone enjoys these recipes

Welcome

Welcome to Simply Food,
I am very excited about creating this blog and would like to introduce myself. My name is Hannah and my favourite thing to do is to cook, I would cook all day if I had the chance. I have created this blog to share my favourite recipes and my enthusiasm for great food. I plan to write about the restaurants I visit and the recipes I cook for my family and friends.
I love cooking. I love that you can create something amazing with just a few ingredients. I love the smell of the food as you are cooking it and how it changes as you add herbs and spices. I love how each country has its own distinct cuisine. But most of all I love how everyone can experience and cook great food. 
I welcome anyone to share their favourite recipes or any tips with me
Happy Cooking