Monkfish with zucchini two ways

I'm working hard at ramping up the wankiness of my recipes - well, their titles, actually.

I went to the Vic Market at lunchtime today and picked up some gorgeous-looking snapper and monkfish.

I'm going to simply panfry it in butter and lemon, but since zucchini is so abundant at the moment, I'm going to serve the fish with steamed garlic zucchini, and I'm going to make a tartare sauce using last season's pickled zucchini instead of capers. Hopefully the sharpness of the pickle will provide the requisite saltiness and sourness to make the sauce work.

The final dish... mmm. Buttery.

Turkish Delight cupcakes

This recipe is from the Women's Weekly 1000 Best Ever Recipes from AWW and although the book is organised very poorly, the recipes are - as always - foolproof.

Except for the presentation...

What the cupcakes were supposed to look like:

 

What they actually looked like, after I mangled them and followed the recipe only loosely...

Raw chilli (un-carne)

I am using goneraw's Veggie Chili recipe tonight, and I have to say... not bad. It doesn't look that pretty (although it looks surprisingly like "real" chili). Obviously it doesn't have the same depth, the same slow cooked flavour and richness as the real thing - however, it's light, and healthy, and a lot less like a gazpacho than I had anticipated.

So thanks, goneraw!

 

 

Worst. Restaurant. Evah.

Ebony Quill in Camberwell, in "The Well" centre. I've been there a few times and it was okay - but after today's effort I am blacklisting it forever. I urge anybody who reads this to do the same.

The food is crap and overpriced. I ordered a "Greek salad" which was 98% iceberg lettuce, roughly torn, with one cherry tomato, 2 slices of cucumber, 2 olives and a piece of cheese. It cost me $12.

More fool me for paying it, but crikey. Never again - EVER.

Ebony Quill - boycott it if you don't already.

Innocent Bystander pinot gris

Usually, I prefer pinot grigio to gris, but this wine is not bad. I have to say, it was lovely with dinner but it was a bit sickly when I quaffed it alone.

That's more likely a reflection on me than on the wine though!

Interestingly, I tasted very strong honey and pear flavours, with less of the "nashi" flavour that was described. It was also quite creamy, although I didn't pick up on any jasmine or kaffir lime notes - the honeysuckle was definitely there though.

Quite delicious but definitely one for food.

Roasted chicken with quince paste and pancetta

This is for you, P.

I first found this recipe aaaaages ago in a Donna Hay cookbook, belonging to a friend whose house and cats I was babysitting.

It might have been the cupboard ingredients book?

Anyhoo, it's simple and delicious. Chicken breasts, smeared with quince paste, wrapped in pancetta, then roasted on a bed of spring onions/baby leeks, oil and white wine.

 It is pretty delish!

An experiment: raw sunflower seed pate

Meh, is all i can say. It tatses like savoury peanut butter.

Ingredients:
sunflower seeds, soaked overnight in water
garlic, chopped
lemon juice
salt
tahini

Soak the seeds overnight, drain and then blitz everything together, adding hot water if it needs thinning. I have to say, it's nothing like pate. Or cheese. It was an experiment that wasn't worth repeating - why bother with substitutes? Just find something new...

Christine's tomato chicken

Thank you to wonderful Christine, whose amazing blog provides me with all of the Chinese recipes I could ever wish for. Screw Ken Hom and his hot wok!

This dish is what Christine calls chicken in tomato sauce and it's my dinner for tonight.

First, the chicken is marinated in the standard seasonings - soy, rice wine, sesame oil, cornflour. Then you chop/slice/dice some fresh tomatoes (I used 2 big tomatoes and about 6 cherry tomatoes) and mince some garlic.

Fry the chicken, set aside. Fry the garlic, add the tomatoes, stir fry until soft. Then add the chicken back in, add a tablespoon of tomato sauce or tomato paste mixed with a half cup of water and a bit of sugar and stir it all about.

Add some thickening (1tsp cornflour with water/soy) and stir a bit more.

It was pretty amazing - thanks, Christine!

Silverbeet

So, who knew that silver beet/rainbow chard could be so hardy? Everybody except me, I suspect.

After forcing my poor mother to create a gigantic organic veggie garden purely for my own gluttonous desires, I am now enjoying a "glut" (haha) of rainbow chard/silver beet.

Which is, contrary to my memories, quite delicious. I seem to remember it being tough and grainy, but instead, the leaves are silky smooth and the stalks are delicious, nutty and crisp.

I've been using it up in various ways over the last 3 weeks, but the most popular way has been to steam the leaves with a touch of nutmeg, and make a gratin of the stems.

It's a Stephanie Alexander recipe from her Cook's Companion book. Basically, you separate the leaves from the stems. You slice the stems up, blanch for 10 mins in boiling water, then drain and place in a gratin dish. You boil a cup of cream in a small saucepan, then turn the heat off and stir in 50-100g of cheese (I've tried it with blue cheese - the original recipe and with parmesan. I think I preferred the parmesan).

Top it with breadcrumbs and a spray of oil and bake for about 30 mins in a hot oven. It is delicious and nobody knows what it is until you tell them!