Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Tomato, Basil and Feta for Breakfast

This is one of my favorite breakfasts. For the crispiest toast, I cook it and let it stand in the toaster for a minute whilst I slice and shred. Then I layer the tomatoes and shredded basil on top of my crispy toast. I top this with crumbled the feta (my favorite is Greek Feta from Trader Joes). Drizzle a little good quality extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper to taste and enjoy with a hot cup of Twinings English Breakfast tea!


Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Amaretti Syllabub

I don't make dessert very often because I'm afraid of what it might do to my waistline but I need a better catalog of recipes ready for dinner parties when I am to bring the last course. This is a Nigella Lawson creation which I was attracted to because I was limited with time and it literally takes 10 minutes to prepare.

1/3 cup (80ml) amaretto liquer
5tsp sugar
1tbs lemon juice
250ml thickened cream
250g morbidi biscuits (amaretti)

Place liquer, sugar and juice in a bowl and whisk until sugar dissolves. Whisk in cream and continue to whip until thickened but still soft and billowy.

Place a little syllabub in the bottom of the glass. Crumble some biscuits on top. Add a little more syllabub and finally crumble a few more biscuits on top. It is wonderful but very rich. Ideally, this dessert should be served with a crisp sweet dessert wine!

Rice Crispies

As an Aussie "chocolate crackles" are a well known treat for kids. It wasn't until I moved to the USA that I heard of Rice Crispy Treats. It was about time that I attempted this American treat. It took about 10 minutes to make and the kids appeared to enjoy it. Give them a try.

Snapper in Rich Tomato Sauce

This was a gamble as fish and kids do not usually go so well together. I had just picked up some Wild Red Snapper from Market of Choice for $4.99 lb and the recipe looked simple so I gave it a try. The one thing I know for certain is that the kids LOVE pasta so at the very least, they wouldn't starve!


The kids devoured this dish and my pickiest eater had two large plates. The great news is that it is also healthy with only 7grams of fat and 1175kj's.



750g (1.5lbs) boneless white fish
1 teaspoon Olive Oil
1 medium chopped Red Onion
3 cloves of Garlic
800g canned tomatoes
1 tablespoon Balsmaic Vinegar
2 tablespoons Tomatoe Paste
2 tablespoons drained Capers
1/4 cup chopped fresh Parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves

Cut fish into bite sized pieces. Heat oil in a large pan (I used my Le Creuset dutch oven), cook onion and garlic stirring until onion is soft. Stir in undrained crushed tomatoes (I used Trader Joes Roma with Basil), vinegar, paste, sugar and capers; simmer, uncovered about 10 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Here I used my hand blender to whiz the tomatoes as I was using whole instead of crushed. Stir in fish; simmer, uncovered about 5 minutes or until fish is cooked through. Stir in herbs.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

It's Time to Trim Your Lavender

I LOVE my lavender. I use it in Crème Brûlée, lemonade and more. I cut it, tie it up and hang it so the oils run to the tips. (meanwhile the pantry smells incredible). Then when it's dried out, I cut the tips off and store them in a container ready for further use.