Smoked Salmon & Lemon Dill Pasta

I must have had a case of the mean on Saturday as even though Philip suggested we go out for dinner, I insisted that I would cook. If we were child free, I would have happily gone out, but it wasn't to be.

Ingredients

320g died farfalle pasta
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons chopped fresh continetal parsely
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 teaspoons of Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
150g hot-smoked salmon fillet, skin removed, flaked

Cook pasta in a saucepan of boiling water until cooked. Drain and return to pan.

Meanwhile, combine the dill, parsely, oil, lemon juice, mustard and lemon rind in a jug.

Pour the dill mixture over the pasta and toss to combine. Season with salt & pepper. Add the salmon and toss to combine. Divide among serving bowls.

I took this recipe from the February 2012 edition of Australian Good Taste. It tasted lovely, Isobel thought it tasted funny, so she didn't eat it, though that is not surprising from her and it was really easy to make. We had it with a bottle of cleanskin rose.

Lemon chicken with a warm lentil salad and herb relish

First new actual dinner recipe for this year. I had been wanting to make this for a little while, so it finally happened, with good results. Recipe is to serve 4, I cut it in half as it was just for two.

I found while doing this what a benefit having your own herb garden would be, if only plants didn't die while I was in charge of them! I also found it was difficult to get the fresh herbs I was after.

Lemon Chicken

Ingredients

1 lemon, finely sliced
125ml extra virgin olive oil
4 chicken supreme (breast fillet with wing attached, with skin on)
sea salt
fresh ground black pepper
100g baby English spinach to serve

Mix the lemon and olive oil in a bowl , add the chiken and coat well, then cover and marinate i the fridge for at least 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 220°. Heat an ovenproof frying pan (large enough to hold all the chicken) over a high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, place the chicken skin side down in the pan and sear until golden on one side. Turn the chicken over and cook for another minute to seal the chicken. (I don't have an oven proof frying pan, as far as I know, so I seared and sealed the chicken in the frying pan and then transferred it to the oven on an oven tray, it was in the oven for about 15 minutes)

Put the pan in the oven and cook the chicken for about 10 -12 minutes, until the chicken feels firm to touch. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before slicing the chickenon the diagonal into three pieces. To serve, put a handful of spinach leave on each plate, spoon some lentil salad on top, then divide the sliced chicken among the plates. Serve with herb relish. Serves 4.

Warm Lentil Salad
1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
60 ml extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
215g lentils de Puy, cooked to instructions on packet and drained
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon
1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Whisk the mustard, olice oil and vinegar together in a small bowl until combined. Combinethe vinaigrette in a bowl with the warm lentils, red onion, herbs and salt and pepper.

Herb Relish
1 tablespoon salted capers, rinsed, squeezed dry and chopped
1 anchovy fillet, chopped
3 spring onions, finely sliced
3 tablespoons finely chopped flat leaf parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chervil or tarragon (I used tarragon)
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
60ml extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
a few drops of red wine vinegar
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Stir all the ingredients together in a bowl, then leave for 1 hour to allow all the flavours to develop

Philip and I shared a bottle of Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc with this, it was very nice.

Unfortunately, by the time this was cooked, I had lost all natural light for my photos

This receipe come froom Bills Food by Bill Granger. You can see Bill's version here.

Chocolate Banana Muffins

It's been a while since I posted, mainly because I have mostly been having salad over the summer so haven't tried out much in the way of new recipes. Yesterday, we had too many bananas that just had to be used, so we did banana bread and the chocolate banana muffins, which Isobel described as delicious, so they must be good, given that she hates banana.

Ingredients

2 cups (300g) self raising flour
1/3 cup (65g) caster sugar
100g dark choc bits (I didn't have any choc bits in the house for a change, so used roughly chopped milk chocolate)
2 small (270g) ripe bananas
1 egg
60g butter, melted
1 cup (250ml) milk

Preheat oven to 210°. Grease a 12 hole muffin pan. Sift flour into a large bowl, stir in sugar and chocolate. In a separate bowl, mash the bananas, stir in egg, butter and milk. Add to the flour mixture, stir until just combined, spoon into muffin pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown, turn onto wire rack.


This recipe comes from Good Medicine magazine from April 1999. Being Good Medicine magazine, they recommend that the muffins be as healthy as possible so use skim milk, reduced fat margerine instead of butter and also suggest to use 1 cup of wholemeal SR flour. I'll leave that sort of decision up to you.

Baguette with Persian Fetta, Tomato and Fresh Basil

The is a champagne bar at Doncaster Shoppingtown, it's called Louis Louise and it's a lovely place to go for a glass of bubbly and a lite snack. I was fortunate enough not to have the kids with me, they were with Philip, a couple of weeks ago, so once my shopping was done, I thought I would have a seat at Louis Louise. I ordered a glass Chandon Rosé and the baguette with Persian fetta, tomato and fresh Basil. It was just lovely, just a pity I was by myself, would've been lovely to have had some company. I told Philip about my very pleasant experience, so the next time we were at Shoppingtown, we sat down to a glass of sparkling and the baguette, he was impressed too.

On Friday, it would have been great to call in, but not with two kids, so while at the supermarket, I bought what I needed to do the baguette myself. It doesn't look as good, but here is my intepretation.
Baguette, Persian Fetta (I bought Southcape), tomatoes and fresh Basil - lovely!

Chocolate and Peppermint Creams

I have not tried any 'new food' of late as I don't want to be making for one. I have been very happy with salads, especially when the weather is hot. Also, after so much food at Christmas, I just want light meals. It's school holidays and as Isobel loves to bake, that's what we did today, I wasn't really in the mood to venture out. I do have a feeling that Spencer helped a little more than Isobel did, he likes to tell me what number the mixer should be on. I will be getting back into my 'new food' soon.

Ingredients

150g butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup golden syrup
1 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted
1/4 cup Dutch cocoa, sifted (I didn't have Dutch cocoa, so just had to use the normal cocoa)
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
200g dark chocolate, chopped

Peppermint Cream

2 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 tablespoons milk

Place the butter, sugar and golden syrup in an electric mixer and beat for 8-10 minutes or until pale and creamy. Add the flour, cocoa, bicarb soda and beat until a smooth dough forms. Add the chocolate pieces and mix well until combined. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.

Preheat oven to 180°. Roll 1 tablespoonful of the dough into balls at a time. Place on baking trays lined with non stick baking paper and flatten slightly, leaving room to spread. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the tops are cracked. Allow to cool on wire racks.

To make the peppermint cream, place the icing sugar, peppermint extract and milk in a bowl and beat with a hand held electric mixer for 3-4 minutes or until smooth. Spread half the biscuits with the peppermint cream and sandwich with remaining biscuits. Makes 18.

Mine were slightly bigger than they should have been, so I only made 13, instead of the 18.



This recipe comes from Donna Hay Magazine Issue 60 Dec/Jan 2012.