Warm salad of prawns, southern golds, shaved fennel & chilli oil

This is for my beautiful and loving Aunty Kathy. You have influenced me more than you can imagine. When I'm older, if I'm half the woman you are I'll be over the moon.

Aunty Kathy saw the cover to one of my favourite cookbooks; e'cco 2, and wanted the recipe, so here it is lovely. I've made this dish before and honestly it's delicious!! Cara this one's for you too, I know how long you've been waiting :)

 Serves 6

4 baby fennel, outer leaves and core removed, finely shaved

1/2 red onion, finely sliced

1 cup picked coriander sprigs, washed and spun

1/2 cup (125ml) good quality mayonnaise

1 tablespoon seeded mustard (preferably Hill Farm Mountain Pepper)

grated zest of 1 lime

1 tablespoon (20ml) lime juice

12 medium southern gold (pink eye) potatoes, steamed and peeled

olive oil

30 medium green prawns, peeled, butterflied with tails attached

salt/freshly ground black pepper

chilli oil

3 limes, halved

Toss fennel, onion and coriander in a bowl, reserving a few coriander sprigs

Combine mayonnaise with mustard, lime zest and lime juice.  Dress salad with mayonnaise to moisten.

Slice each potato in half. Heat a wide, heavy-based pan and fry potatoes cut side-down in a little olive oil until the surface has crisped and potatoes have good colour and are warmed through.

Season prawns and pan-fry, char-grill or barbecue until just cooked.

To serve, place 4 potato halves in the centre of each plate and top with 3 prawns. Arrange salad on top of prawns. Place remaining prawns on top. Drizzle a little chilli oil over and around. Top with reserved coriander and serve with lime halves.

Pumpkin and Ricotta Ravioli

Mmmm mmmm I made a delicious Donna Hay recipe for dinner tonight: Pumpkin and Ricotta Ravioli with burnt butter sauce. It was scrumptious and went perfect with my Yarra Valley Riesling. The dish was extremely easy to make. Why not give it a go yourself....

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius. Chop 500g of pumpkin and place on baking tray and cook in oven for approximately 20 minutes. Meanwhile put 250g of ricotta into a bowl with 1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese, fresh oregano, sea salt and black pepper.

Spoon 2 teaspoons of the ricotta mix on to a wonton wrapper and top with 1 piece of pumpkin. Wet the 4 edges with your fingertip and place another wonton wrapper on top, sealing the edges.

On low heat put 50g of butter into a pan, add fresh oregano and cook until browned. Cook the ravioli in boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Lay ravioli onto a plate and scatter remaining pumpkin over and around. Drizzle with burnt butter and sprinkle with fresh parmesan... Bona-petite!

Spring Clean

There's been quite a few articles on the big 'Spring Clean' of late; mainly wardrobe change-overs and gardening tips. These are certainly relevant, but as a foodie my 'Spring Clean' today comprised of a mighty pantry clean out!

I removed every single item from what seemed to be Mary Poppin shelves. I was amazed at what I found! I literally have hundreds of dollars worth of food and preserves, I must keep that in mind when asked what my assets are in future.

Once everything was out; sprawled across the kitchen island, shelves, floor, you name it, I thought to myself, what have I gotten myself into this lovely Spring Saturday morning, this job was going to take a lot longer than I thought.

I pre-packed, wiped bottles and jars and said goodbye to a few old friends, but also managed to rekindle a few new ones too. I had a heavenly bottle of Lentara Grove Extra Virgin Olive Oil that lay hidden and forgotten, for what would have been 12 months. I know this because I purchased the bottle from Tamar Valley's beautiful Pipers Brooke Vineyard on my Tasmanian holiday last year. I stumbled accross a few spice duplicates too; let me just say I have enough dried coriander and cumin to last me 2 years..... Anyone for Moroccan?

Yes the 'Spring Clean' took up a fare bit of my time, but at least I know what I have in the pantry now and I certainly feel refreshed, organised and motivated for many cooking adventures this coming Spring/Summer season. Have I given you a sudden urge to give your pantry a big 'Spring Clean'?

Cookbooks

Haven't cookbooks changed over the years?

I believe the demise of the bookshop will never eventuate, foodies will always insist on having a beautiful cookbook in their kitchen, why? Because they're works of arts that's why, besides, what will people give us as gifts?

As a nation we're fixated on beautiful things, it's all about image; don't think those marketing gurus don't know about it either! Compare the 1968 Margaret Fulton Cookbook with very minimal food photography to, well, any cookbook published in the last 5 years; pictures galore. I'm not saying I don't like it, that's certainly not it, my point is how much they've changed. Did you know Margaret Fulton has an iphone application... Yep you heard right, I just downloaded it from her website: www.margaretfulton.com.au

So on the topic of cookbooks, I thought I'd share a couple of my more favourite cookbooks in the kitchen.

#1 e’cco 2 - Philip Johnson
Philip Johnson owns a modern bistro called e'cco. Opened in 1995, e’cco is set in an historic tea warehouse in Brisbane’s CBD. e'cco 2 is my favourite cookbook, not just because it was my first ‘real’ cookbook, but more so because of it’s perfect and simple flavours. The recipes aren’t difficult and the ingredients obtainable. e’cco 2 comprises mainly of starters and desserts. Pressed duck and potato terrine with bitter greens, and onion jam and seared scallops with Tuscan bread salad. Caramelised rum bananas with toasted banana bread, Apple Pecan and Pine nut Torte and Campari sorbet just to name a few. Sadly this cookbook isn’t for sale anymore, all that were, are now sold – no wonder! 

#2 Food and Travels Asia - Alastair Hendy
If you don't know already, Miss Foodie's favourite cuisine is Vietnamese. So on my birthday last year when I received this cookbook from my mother I almost cried. Why would you cry over a book, well this book is honestly stunning!!! If you want an honest representation on Asian food then 'Food and travels Asia' is the cookbook for you. Hendy's photography is outstanding and the recipes authentic. He has a knack of painting the perfect picture; how the food is served, how the locals eat and on what occasion. The book is divided into countries India, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Bali, you get the gist. I made Turmeric Fish from the book in one of my Wednesday Girls Dinners. To put it simply, if you love Asian food then get this book!

#3 Saraban - Greg and Lucy Malouf
I was given this exquisite cookbook for my 30th birthday back in July this year. Saraban was inspired by Greg and Lucy’s trip to Iran in 2010. The ex-husband and wife team travelled there and discovered the secrets of Persian cuisine. The photography and story telling within these pages are so beautiful, it’s almost like you can smell the spices on that very hot sunny day. I’ve made a few recipes out of this book already. My favourite so far is Roasted Leg of Lamb with pumpkin, red onion and sultanas. You serve it with rice and natural yoghurt. I love it because, the taste is obviously out of this world, but also because it’s nice to have an alternate to the traditional roast veg and gravy we all know and love. 

#4 Marie Claire's Comfort Food
I like this book because the recipes are really simple but certainly don't lack in flavour. Comfort food is such a wonderful cuisine. During winter you can't go passed roasting and hearty soups. I also love the imagery here too. The ingredients are very local and never difficult to find.

 

Introducing Miss Foodie

You may have noticed a few changes; well I hope you have. Yes I've somewhat reinvented myself…… Say au revoir to Party Mouth Foodie and bonjour to Miss Foodie (Aus). There will be a few more changes in the coming months too as Miss Foodie now has her very own domain name www.MissFoodie.com.au so hopefully we'll be running off that soon.

So what's been happening...... Well a couple of weeks ago I had the unfortunate experience of loosing one of my blog pages. I was busily uploading recipes from my infamous Wednesday Girls Dinners, when shock horror – it had all gone to scramble. What’s scramble you say? Well to put it simply, it’s a bit of this…*%XGLL9FGD D@@%&@#$@ $!DD and a bit more of that....H0438543 amp;amp;^%*........and a bit more of this...... &JJ DFD*()*&)^*$^#^%*&HJ........Not fun at all! And frightening too! I nearly packed it all up and through it in. Thank goodness for Google Cache and thank goodness for a close friend from ME MEDIA who educated me on this wonderful cache tool. So after reloading the text and all the images Miss Foodie was back. With this scare came a refreshed and motivated Miss Foodie. People don’t realise the time and energy it takes to keep a blog. As we all know life can be quite hectic; work is never-ending, weekends fly by and when you do get a chance to stop and relax all you want to do is a big fat nothing, well I know I do. To be honest, it’s hard to pull out the macbook and start blogging in what's a rare commodity; spare time. But..... If you want something bad enough, if you have a vision for something, then alas Miss Foodie must find time, and time she will find.

Wednesday Girls Dinner - Karolina

Entree Fancy Waldorf Salad Stack
Main Pork with Coconut Cream Spinach and Chill
Dessert Rhubarb Pie

Fancy Waldorf Salad Stack

Ingredients

Handful of chopped walnuts
4 Medium Granny Smith Apples, very thinly sliced
2 Celery Stalks, thinly sliced
1 cup Fancy lettuce
Good quality Blue Cheese

Method

In small skillet, heat walnuts over medium low heat, stirring frequently, for 4 to 5 minutes or until toasted and fragrant. On 4 plates, evenly arrange apples, celery, lettuce, walnuts and blue cheese. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Pork with Coconut Cream Spinach and Chilli 

Ingredients (serves 4) 

1.5kg orange sweet potato (kumara), peeled, cut into 7mm-thick slices
1 1/2 tbs olive oil
4 pork loin medallion steaks
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 small fresh red chilli, finely chopped
2 bunches English spinach, ends trimmed, washed
150ml coconut cream

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C. Place the sweet potato in a bowl. Drizzle over 1 tablespoon of the oil and toss to coat. Arrange the sweet potato in a single layer on 2 baking trays. Bake in oven, swapping the trays halfway through cooking, for 25 minutes or until golden and tender.

Meanwhile, heat 1 teaspoon of the remaining oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the pork and cook for 3-4 minutes each side for medium or until cooked to your liking. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

Heat the remaining oil in the frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and chilli, and cook for 30 seconds or until aromatic. Add the spinach and coconut cream and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until the spinach just wilts.

Divide the sweet potato among serving plates. Top with the spinach mixture and pork to serve.

Rhubarb Pie

Karolina your homemade recipe please..... ?

Wednesday Girls Dinner - Alyssa

Entree Roasted Beetroot Soup with Creme Fraiche and fresh mint
Main Spicy Couscous Salad with Haloumi
Dessert Chocolate Semi-freddo with Berries

Roasted Beetroot Soup with Creme Fraiche and fresh mint

Ingredients

Extra virgin olive oil
1 carrot, chopped into chunks
3 to 4 small or 2 large baby beetroots cut into quarters
1 desiree potato, peeled, chopped1 granny smith apple, quartered
40g unsalted butter
1 onion, quartered1 bay leaf
1L (4 cups) chicken or vegetable stock
Creme fraiche (or sour cream), finely snipped mint to serve

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Spread carrot, beetroot, potato and apple on a large roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil and cook for around 45 minutes.

Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until slightly softened. Add the slightly cooled roasted vegetables, bay leaf, stock and 1 cup (250ml) water. Increase the heat to medium-high, bring soup to the boil, then cook for a further 5 minutes or until the vegetables are very tender.

Allow the mixture to cool slightly, then discard the bay leaf. Using a stick blender, blend soup until smooth (or puree in batches in a blender).

Season soup to taste, add a little extra water if it's too thick, and warm through over low heat if necessary.

To serve, divide soup among bowls and top each with a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream. Scatter with fresh snipped mint, then drizzle with oil.

Spicy Couscous Salad with Haloumi

Ingredients

2 cups Real Vegetable Stock

1 small onion
250g pearl couscous
250g haloumi cheese
1 teaspoon olive oil
420g can chickpeas, drained, rinsed
5 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup mint leaves, roughly chopped
2 long red chillies, deseeded, thinly sliced

Dressing
1 large lemon, rind finely grated, juiced
2 teaspoons paprika
1/4 cup olive oil
Quarter lemon to serve

Method

Saute chopped onion in olive oil until golden. Add pearl couscous and stir until golden. Add salt, pepper, chopped parsley and other spices to taste. Add 2 cups boiling water or stock. Cover pot and simmer for 8-10 minutes.

Cut haloumi into 3 lengthways. Heat oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add haloumi and cook for 1 to 2 minutes each side or until golden. Transfer to a plate. Toss couscous, chickpeas, green onion, mint and chilli until combined.

Make dressing: Whisk lemon rind, 1/4 cup lemon juice, paprika and oil in a jug until well combined.

Pour dressing over salad. Season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Top with haloumi and Serve with a fresh piece of lemon.

Chocolate Semi-freddo with Berries

Ingredients (serves 8)

6 eggs, separated
2/3 cup caster sugar
1 cup thickened cream
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 cup warm water
fresh berries, to serve

Method

Using a hand mixer, beat egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until pale and creamy. Wash and dry beaters. Beat eggwhites until soft peaks form. Fold eggwhites into egg yolk mixture until just combined.

Using beaters, whip cream until soft peaks form. Combine cocoa and warm water in a small bowl. Stir into cream.

Carefully fold chocolate cream into egg mixture until just combined. Spoon into a 4-cup capacity airtight container.

Cover and freeze for 3 hours or until firm. Serve with fresh or frozen berries.