Taste of the sea

There is nothing better than something freshly caught, especially if someone very close to you is the "catcher".

I was reading Kitchen Hand's blog What I Cooked Last Night and he was speaking about some beautiful, plump mussels from Portarlington  that he bought over Easter

Well, we often get a couple of kilos of mussels each year when we holiday not far from Port'.

MONT also catches his own fare...whiting, flathead, the occasional snapper and squid.

We had some squid left over in the freezer, so had it as a snack the other night...

This isn't a recipe as such. It's much simpler than that.....

Put the calamari into a very hot pan with a little oil and chopped garlic, cook for a minute then eat.

Job done.

There is nothing as simple or as tasty

Sausage Rolls

I had a bit of a brain wave this week, so I decided to make something for a weekend snack.

I don't know if our friends in the northern hemisphere are familiar with these little delicacies or not, but I really love home made sausage rolls because they're yummy!

In fact, they're really easy too ... but I guess it's just what you're used to.

Here's my version:

Preheat oven to 180-200 degrees. (hot)

Mix together in a large bowl:

500 grams good mince beef

500 grams sausage mince (from the supermarket)

1 carrot, grated

1 stick of celery, chopped finely

1 egg

2 tablespoons breadcrumbs or cornflake crumbs (that's what I had in the cupboard)

and pepper and salt.

Cut 4 sheets prepared puff pastry in half

Place a couple of spoon fulls of the meat mix along each piece of the pastry, brush a little milk along the edge of the pastry and roll it up. Then cut it into four and follow suit with the other pieces of pastry until all the meat mix is finished.

Brush a little milk on the top of each roll....and place in the oven and cook for approx 18 minutes or until golden

These are a great snack for a weekend lunch, or are even terrific to put into the lunch box for the kids.

Me? I love them as a mid morning savoury snack with a coffee.

Noodles

Strangely, I've never been a huge fan of peanut butter, but I love everything satay.

I've never been a really huge fan of Nigella Lawson either, but strangely, I really like some of her recipes...especially this one.

This noodle salad is right up my alley.... It's a little spicy but not hot and it has plenty of veggies in it...although you can't tell by my photograph because I'd eaten a lot of them by the time I took the photo.

All you need is:

1 pack of prepared egg noodles, whichever ones you like the most

a handful of snow peas, sliced

2 spring onions, sliced

red capsicum, sliced thinly

1 cup of bean sprouts

handful of cashews

chopped fresh coriander

sprinkling of sesame seeds

For the dressing:

2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce

3 heaped tablespoons peanut butter (smooth or crunchy, whatever you like)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons lime juice (or lemon if you prefer)

The original recipe also calls for 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, but I never touch the stuff as the smell makes my stomach churn, so use it or not, whatever you prefer.

I usually refresh the noodles in a bowl of boiling water for about 30 seconds, just to get them all separated and soft...

Whisk the dressing ingredients together...drain the noodles and place in a bowl with the veggies, pour or spoon the dressing over the top and mix it all together, then sprinkle the top with the chopped coriander and the sesame seeds...

You can also add some cooked chicken and other veggies to this as well...let your imagination run wild!

That's it! Time to eat

Friday Night Wings

Friday nights at Number 10 are easy peasy nights as far as food goes.

Sometimes I like to do chicken wings because I can marinade them and just throw them in the oven.

This recipe is an adaptation of one I saw "Fast Ed" do on Better Homes and Gardens a year or so ago...maybe even longer.

Firstly, take a bowl and pour in a can of coconut cream.

Then add 2 tablespoons of Thai red curry paste, the juice of a lemon and a couple of good slurps of soy sauce

Marinade the wings for an hour or so...then place them in a baking dish and bake in a 180-200 oven for about half an hour

Once they're golden, remove them from the oven and place them in a bowl...Now, at this point you can either just eat them, or put some other yummy stuff on them.

I like bean sprouts and cashew nuts...mix them all around so the heat from the wings permeates the sprouts and the cashews...then eat

Told you it was easy

Christmas Menu #2 - Potato Pancakes

I've had a lot on my mind lately, what with getting Number 3 renovated and cleaning up Number 10. Now, my thoughts have well and truly turned to food. Specifically, Christmas food!

Image-Cuisine.com.au

On the Saturday before Christmas, MONT's daughters and their husbands and little ones descend on Number 10 for dinner. It's a night I always look forward to and I like to go all out and do something special.

Back in December 2006, I saw this Stephanie Alexander recipe in in the Age food supplement, Epicure, so I thought I'd give it a try. I was not disappointed and have been making them ever since.

There's only one thing with these though: don't let the mixture sit around for too long because the potato discolours.

Potato Pancakes:

500 grams waxy potatoes
1 egg
2 tablespoons potato flour
pinch salt
oil for frying

Peel the potatoes and roughly chop (do them in a few batches to avoid discolouration), then put in a blender and blend until smooth. You may need to shake the blender around a bit if lumps of spud get stuck in the bottom beneath the blades. Then add the egg, flour and salt and blend again.

Heat a non stick pan, add the oil and drop spoonfuls of the mix in and fry for a couple of minutes on each side. The little pancakes should be nicely browned and quite crisp on the edges.

Drain on kitchen paper, cool and then add whatever topping you like. I usually use cream cheese, smoked salmon, prawns, avocado...or whatever takes your fancy

You can make these pancakes the day before and refrigerate them, then reheat in a moderate oven for a few minutes before allowing them to cool a little and adding the topping.

Thanks Stephanie, I love these and so does everyone else.