Apple Turnovers

These apple turnovers were the third part of our three-course dinner from last night.

Local apples are starting to come into season now, and I have seen lots of different varieties at the markets.

I had a hankering for some apples and pastry, so decided on a simple apple turnover. All I had to buy was the fresh apples; everything else was in the fridge and pantry.

I made my own apples for the filling, as it is difficult to find tinned pie apples here, but you could easily use tinned apples and add the rum and walnuts to get the same effect.

I would have added some cinnamon to this recipe, but I didn't have any. I will include it in the recipe though, as I think it would be better with it. I did add a little fresh rosemary, which probably sounds a bit strange, but it works well; try it.

What you'll need

* Makes four apple turnovers.

3 large cooking apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped into cubes - I used Golden Delicious variety
1 tbs rum
2 tbs brown sugar
20g butter, plus a little extra melted butter for brushing
1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 walnuts, roughly chopped
8 pieces of puff pastry, approx 10 x 10cm

What to do

Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Once melted, add the apples and saute for a few minutes. Add the sugar, rum and rosemary, stir well, then add the water.

Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the apples are tender (but not falling apart). Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

On a lined baking tray, set out four pieces of the pastry, spoon approx 2 tbs of the apple mixture into the middle of each pastry square.
Leave 2cm of pastry free around the edge to seal with with the lid.

Sprinkle the walnuts evenly over each pastry square. Then put the lids on each.
Place the pastry evenly over the top of the apples, and then squish down around the edge with a fork, so that the two pieces of pastry join together.

Prick the top of each turnover with a fork. Brush each with melted butter to help it brown and crisp. You can also sprinkle a little sugar over the top if you like. I sprinkled a little brown sugar, which melted nicely.

Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, turning the tray around once during cooking to make sure the turnovers brown evenly.  The turnovers are ready when the pasty is puffed and brown.

Let rest for five minutes, then served while still warm with cream or vanilla icecream. These turnovers were really yummy; the flaky pastry, melted icecream and warm, spicy apples. This is my idea of a simple but satisfying dessert.

Tuna steaks with warm olive and parsley sauce

The salmon and avocado timbale was our first course last night. Here is the second course - tuna steaks with  a warm olive and parsley sauce.

Two fish courses in a row, but that's what I felt like eating, so we'll just go with it.

The little people had the salmon and avocado for their dinner, but they were very interested in this dish so they kept sneaking back to the table for a little taste!

Olives are just about a staple food in our house. The little people have been eating them since they were very small; probably because of the copious amounts that I ate while pregnant!

We are not discriminatory with our olive consumption; black or green are both great. I prefer to eat big, juicy green olives with a cheese platter or even in a toasted sandwich. Black olives are prefect for sauces and slow-cooked dishes.

For this sauce, I used black olives, and mixed it with the parsley pesto I made a few weeks ago along with a few other ingredients. The result was a tart and salty sauce that was wonderful with the tuna. I served it with some freshly steamed green beans. Because the sauce was so flavoursome, I did not season the tuna or beans. I let the sauce provide the seasoning for both.

Hubby thought that the tuna could have been served with something else rather than beans (he's not a huge fan of beans). You could serve this with a puree of cannellini beans or even a very creamy mashed potato.

What you'll need

* Serves four as a main course

4 tuna steaks, approximately 100g each. I used frozen tuna steaks, or you could you salmon steaks
1 tbs vegetable oil
200g fresh green beans, topped and tailed

For the sauce

100g pitted Kalamata olives, roughly chopped
2 tbs parsley pesto
1 tbs red wine vinegar
2 anchovies, finely chopped

What to do

Cook the beans, either steam or boil them until just tender. Refresh under cold water and drain, ready to serve.

Make the sauce. In a frying pan on medium heat, add the olives, then the parsley pesto, vinegar and anchovies. Stir well until mixed together, then remove from heat and set aside.

The sauce should be thick and not too runny. But if you'd like to make it more liquid, add a little bit of warm water to the pan and stir well.

Heat another frying pan on high heat. Add the oil, then the tuna.Cook for approximately two minutes on either side. This will give you a medium-rare tuna steak.

Place the beans on a plate, place the tuna on top, then spoon approximately 1 tbs of sauce onto the tuna and serve immediately.

* If you don't have any parsley pesto on hand, you can still make the sauce, using the following recipe.

What you'll need

2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup loosely packed Italian parsley, finely diced or whizzed in a food processor
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbs red wine vinegar
2 tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 anchovy fillets
100g pitted Kalamata olives

What to do

Whizz all ingredients in a food processor or with a hand blender, then heat over medium heat in a pan for a few minutes to warm through. Serve immediately on top of the fish.

Smoked salmon and avocado timbale

I was feeling a bit creative today after a weekend spent mostly on the couch watching the Olympic boys and girls battle it out for world supremacy.

I'm going through a 'salmon phase' at the moment; can't get enough of it. It is so tasty, relatively healthy and a very versatile ingredient.

I wanted to make something using avocado and smoked salmon. These ingredients complement each other perfectly. I enjoy the texture and flavours and the lovely colours of these two ingredients. I didn't want to make a salad, and I wanted the dish to be cold, so I decided to wrap some smoked salmon around some spiced, mashed avocado and make a 'timbale.' Basically this is a fancy name for the round shape of the mould that you'll make this dish in.

I think it worked out rather nicely, don't you think? 

What you'll need

* This dish serves four as an entree or a light meal.

200g sliced smoked salmon

1 cup white rice, cooked and cooled - I used sushi rice

1 large ripe avocado

2 tbs red wine vinegar

Juice of half a lemon

2 tbs olive oil

20g cheese, I used crumbled blue cheese, or you could use shaved Parmesan or goat's cheese

8 roasted cherry tomatoes (alternatively you could slowly pan-fry the tomatoes to soften them)

2 cups salad leaves - I used rocket 

Lemon wedges to serve

Salt and pepper

What to do

You will need four same-sized small containers to make this dish. I used glass ramekins, but you could use tea cups, small plastic containers etc. Whatever you have is OK. 

Lightly grease the containers. I put some vegetable on my fingers and rubbed it around the inside of the containers. Next, line the containers with plastic wrap, so the salmon will not stick and is easy to remove later. Use enough so there is an overhang that you can wrap over the top at the end.

Take one or two pieces of salmon and lined the inside of the container, pressing the salmon into the corners. If you have enough salmon to overhang the container that's great. If not, that's Ok, as you will invert this salmon to serve it, so if the bottom is not covered, you will not see it. Put the salmon-covered dishes in the fridge while you make the filling.

Scoop the avocado flesh into a bowl and mash roughly. Mix in the rice, vinegar, lemon juice and oil and season well with salt and pepper.

 Remove the salmon containers from the fridge.

Scoop the avocado mixture evenly between the four containers and smooth down with a spoon.

Wrap any overhanging salmon neatly over the top of the avocado. Then wrap the plastic wrap over the top of this to seal it. Place in the fridge to chill for one hour before serving.

To serve, place some of the salad leaves in the centre of a plate. Unfold the plastic wrap from the top of the dish, then invert it onto the salad leaves. Carefully remove the dish and then the plastic wrap. You should end up with a perfectly round salmon 'ball' sitting on the salad. Place one or two tomatoes on top of the salmon. Scatter the cheese around the plate and garnish with the lemon wedges. I also put a good grind of fresh black pepper over the dish before serving.

If you like you can drizzle some olive oil over the salad leaves, but I don't think it is necessary. Once you break open the salmon, the avocado will mix with the salad leaves to flavour them, and the juice from the roasted tomato will also mix in.

This would be a great entree dish for a dinner party, as you could prepare it in the morning and store in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

Miso salmon with soba noodles

Fresh salmon is so delicious.

The delicate flavour and texture are so lovely simply grilled with a squeeze of lime or lemon. But salmon also works well with other flavours.

I bought this beautiful piece of salmon at the local food market, and decided to marinate it with some Japanese miso paste, bake it in the oven and serve it with some ginger and garlic soba noodles.

These simple, fresh flavours were light and so tasty. The slippery heat of the gingery noodles contrasted well with the firm salmon, with its miso crust. A squeeze of lime over the top bought the flavours together.

What you'll need

*This recipe serves six.

For the salmon

800g fresh salmon, skin on (or 6 pieces weighing approximately 100 - 150g each)

2 tbs Japanese miso paste

1 tbs water

Fresh lime to serve

For the noodles

200g soba noodles

1 tbs fresh minced ginger

1 tsp fresh mined garlic

2 tsp soy sauce

1 tbl vegetable oil

1 tsp rice wine vinegar (substitute with white vinegar).

What to do

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

In a small bowl, mix the water with the miso to make a spreadable paste. 

Using a spoon or your hands, spread all over the salmon. Leave to sit for 10 minutes to allow the flavours to develop.

Place salmon on some baking paper in a baking tray and roast in the oven. 

I like my salmon medium-rare in the middle, so I cooked it for 20 minutes. If you prefer yours a little more cooked, adjust your cooking time accordingly. Also, if you are using pieces of salmon, it will need a shorter cooking time than a whole piece. 

While the salmon is cooking, prepare the noodles. Cook to packet instructions (boiling for about 7 minutes), then rince and drain. Place in a bowl, then mix in all the dressing ingredients. Taste the noodles and adjust the seasoning as you like. I prefer to have lots of ginger, as I really like the fresh 'burn' of this spice. Set aside in the fridge to serve with the salmon.

Once the salmon is cooked to your liking (the miso paste should darken and form a nice crust on the top of the fish), remove from the oven. Rest for a few minutes, then slice. 

To serve, place a pile of noodles on a plate, place the sliced salmon on top and some fresh lime to squeeze. You could serve with some stir-fried veges or some sliced tomato and cucumber in a soy and lime dressing.

Beef casserole with pesto dumplings

I made this casserole with dumplings for the children and their wonderful babysitter on the weekend.

It is a dish that keeps well for a few days in the fridge and reheats very well, so it is great to make ahead. It is also great to make it and eat it straight away, so a win-win all around.

The casserole is the goulash recipe that I have blogged about recently.

Basically, you make the casserole, pour it into a baking dish, then make the dumplings. Place the dumplings onto top of (but squished into) the casserole, then cook in the oven for 20 minutes.

While the dumplings cook and become crunchy on the top, the bottom on the dumplings absorb the juices and become squishy and tasty.

This is ultimate comfort food for me. Unfortunately I didn't get to eat any of it as it was demolished by the time I got home.... Maybe next time.

What you'll need

* Serves four with some left over.

For the goulash/casserole

Click here for recipe and ingredients.

For the dumplings

50g butter
2 cups self-raising flour
100g ready-made basil pesto
3/4 cup milk

What to do

Make the goulash. You could do this the day before and store in the fridge until the next day.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Place the goulash into a baking/overproof dish. Make the dumplings.

Pour the flour into a large mixing bowl. Cube the butter and add to the flour and rub it together (like when making scones) until you have a crumbly mixture. Stir through the pesto and milk until you have a soft ball of mixture. If the mixture is very sticky, add a small amount of flour.

Divide the mixture and roll into approximately 20 balls of dough. Place the balls on top of the casserole, squishing them down a little into the meat.

Place in the oven and cook for approximately 20 minutes, until the balls are golden.

Serve while hot with vegetables on the side if you like.

* I made the goulash and the dumplings separately in this recipe. I then placed the already cooked dumplings onto the casserole in a plastic storage container and stored in the fridge. I did this as I didn't have the right size baking dish to use. This worked fine and the casserole and dumplings were reheated the next day. 

Pork belly

It was a busy week last week. We had some Kiwi rellies over for dinner Friday night before jetting off to London for a quick weekend.

I wanted to cook something easy that I could put in the oven and forget about, then serve it up for the hungry crowd.

I decided on pork belly with an Asian influence. This meat is rather forgiving if you cook it a bit too long, and you can chat and drink wine while it is cooking, so perfect really. All you have to do is slice at the end and bring it to the table.

I had 2.5kg of pork, which served five adults and two children with not a scrap left. For those cooking a smaller piece of meat, I will include some cooking estimates for smaller meat portions below.

What you'll need

*Serves seven people with side dishes.

2.5kg boneless pork belly with skin on (I had two pieces that together weighed 2.5kg)
2 tbs olive oil
2 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp rice wine vinegar (substitute with white vinegar)
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt

What to do

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius.

Score the fat of the pork belly in a criss cross pattern with a very sharp knife. Don't cut into the meat. This allows the fat to drain and become crisp.

Pat the meat dry with paper towel. Place into a baking tray. Mix the marinade ingredients (except the salt) together in a bowl, pour over the meat and massage in.

Sprinkle approx 1 tsp salt over the pork fat and rub in. This will assist in crisping it.

Place into the hot oven for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 170 degrees Celsius. Cook for approx 2.5 to 3 hours, until the meat is very tender and peels apart.

Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before carving and serving. We ate this with plain rice and an Asian salad of wombok cabbage, carrot, cucumber and capsicum with a sweet dressing.

The meat was melt in the mouth tender and the skin was lovely and crispy.

Cooking times for smaller meat portion.

1kg pork belly - 220 degrees for 15 minutes then approximately 1.5 hours at 170 degrees.
2kg pork belly - 220 degrees for 20 minutes then approximately 2 hours at 170 degrees.

Mini Meatloaves

Here's an idea for a quick and tasty dinner.

I whipped up these mini meat loaves in 20 minutes after a day spent at the pool and playground.

The meat loaves were quick to make, needed only a few ingredients and tasted and looked great.

What you'll need

*This recipe made five meatloaves and served two people, with one loaf left-over for lunch the next day.

For meat loaves
500g beef mince
1 packet rissole mix (Maggi brand in Australia) or faschiertes fix (Knoor brand in Austria)
1 egg
10 slices prosciutto (allowing two for each loaf)
1 tsp vegetable oil

For gravy
1 tbs flour
1 tsp soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce (optional)
1/2 cup water

What to do

Place the mince, rissole/faschiertes mix and egg into a bowl and mix well.

Form the mince into small loaf shapes. I used about a handful of mince,
and patted it into shape.

Wrap one or two slices of prosciutto around each loaf.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add the oil. Once hot, add the loaves and reduce heat to low. You don't want to burn the prosciutto before the inside of the loaf is cooked, so cook it slowly.

It should take about 10 minutes for the loaves to cook through.
You should turn them once during cooking so they are well browned.

If you want to check they are cooked in the middle, you can break one open with a knife to have a look. You won't need to season this as the rissole mix is already seasoned and the prosciutto is salty also.

When the meat loaves are finished cooking, make the gravy.

While the heat is still under the pan, sprinkle the flour into the pan around the loaves. With a spoon, move the flour around to soak up the meat juices and flavours and cook it for 1 minute. Once this is done, add the water and mix it through with the spoon to remove any lumps.

The gravy may look a bit light-coloured, so you can add the soy sauce/Worcestershire for a little colour and flavour. But if your gravy is already dark, don't worry about it.

Serve immediately. We ate ours with potatoes sauteed with rosemary and a garden salad. 

Chicken sandwich

Here is what I ate for lunch.

A chicken sandwich with goat's cheese, fresh tomato and parsley pesto. Here's the recipe for parsley pesto.

Very simple but tasty, and a good way to use up the grilled chicken breast that was left-over from last night's dinner.

What you'll need

1 small chicken breast, grilled or pan-fried
20g goat's cheese
1 small tomato
2 tsp parsley pesto (see recipe link above)
Fresh pepper
2 think slices of bread of your choice

What to do

Spread pesto on one slice of bread.

Top with chicken breast, goat's cheese and sliced tomato.

Sprinkle with cracked black pepper.

Top with other slice of bread and devour.....

Don't be put off by the size of this sandwich. You can always put your foot on it to squash it down to the right size (ha ha)! Alternatively, you can always slice the chicken a little bit thinner.

Parsley pesto

Last week, on our short holiday, we stayed in hubby's 'family house'.

The house was built by his Grandfather for his parents in 1932. Since then, four generations of the same family have lived there - even us 'Aussie ring-ins' have spent lots of time there. The house has been extended over the years to accommodate everyone, so it is now rather large. The room I was sleeping in was the room that my husband's father was born in. That was kind-of a strange feeling!

There is a pool and lovely garden, so many family gatherings have been held here. We were house-minding the family house last week, as the house owners (Auntie and Uncle) were away on holidays. Before they left, they told me to eat anything in the garden that might be ready. Now that is the right thing to say to me! I love using fresh ingredients from my (or anyone elses) garden to cook with.

I spied a huge parsley bush while I was having a look around in the garden. That is where the idea for this recipe comes from. I picked an armful of parsley and went to the kitchen, whizzed it up with a few ingredients, and made this great pesto. It is not a pesto like a basil pesto with cheese and nuts. This is more simple that that, but just as good, I think.

You could serve this with fresh seafood or grilled fish, with grilled or roasted chicken, mixed through some hot pasta or even on a sandwich. I had it on a chicken sandwich for lunch, and it was so refreshing. You could also serve it with steamed vegetables or as a dip.

  

What you'll need

* This recipe made three small jars (approximately 1 1/2 cups) of pesto.

1 armful of parsley (curly or Italian). I would estimate this to be approximately 8 - 10 loosely-packed cups
Juice and zest of 2 lemons
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine or white balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper

  

What to do

Wash the parsley in a sink-full of fresh water. Pick out any yellow bits and remove as many of the stalks as possible. In batches, blend the parsley in a food processor.

Once it has all been blended, add the other ingredients. I would add the lemon, zest and garlic first, then slowly pour the oil and vinegar in while the processor is running.

Check the consistency of the mix. Mine dolloped off a spoon, rather than ran. Season with salt and pepper.

Once you are happy with the consistency and taste, pour pesto into clean jars with lids and refrigerate. This will last for approximately two weeks in the fridge. Store upside down so that the jars are sealed tightly.

Roasted potatoes with oregano and lemon

I like this recipe for Greek-inspired roasted potatoes. The flavours are distinctive and it is relatively quick and easy to make. These potatoes go with anything roasted, such as lamb, beef or chicken. You could also serve them as a side dish at a BBQ with grilled meats or seafood.

What you'll need

* Serves two people as a side dish. Allow two potatoes per person if you want to make a larger serving.

4 medium large potatoes, skin on
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs fresh oregano, roughly chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper

What to do

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Slice the potatoes into wedges (or whatever shape you prefer) and place into a baking dish. Pour over the oil, lemon juice and oregano. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. I really like salt, so I am generous with the salt on these potatoes. I also roast my potatoes with the skin on. Generally they don't become super-crunchy, which is fine for me. I prefer to have the taste of the skin.

Place baking dish into the oven and bake for approximately 1 hour. The potatoes will go slightly brown and you can check if they are cooked by using a skewer to see if the potatoes are soft.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and serve while hot. You can squeeze extra lemon juice over the top when serving if you like.

I served these with roasted lamb shanks and eggplant relish.