Salmon Pappardelle

As it was Sunday I asked Philip if he wanted a 'nice breakfast' or if he was happy having toast or cereal, he opted for the 'nice breakfast', which was not surprising. I made scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, Spencer decided that he wanted some as well, so he got half of mine. As there was a decent, late breakfast, we didn't have any lunch, therefore we were a little hungry come dinner time.

I'd bought some fresh pappardelle at the supermarket today, so I thought I might as well use it.

Ingredients

2 medium red capsicums
500g pappardelle pasta
750g salmon fillet
200g cherry tomatoes halved
2 tablespoons capers
300g English spinach, finely shredded
3 tablespoons fresh basil, finely shredded
zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil

Place the capsicums under a grill preheated to high until the skin blackens. Transfer to a plastic bag to cool. Peel and discard the skin, remove the seeds and cut the flesh into thin strips.

Cook the papparedelle in a large pan of rapidly boiling water until al dente. Drain and keep warm.

Cook the salmon fillet under a grill preheated to high for 5 minutes each side or until cooked to your liking. Cool slightly, then break into large pieces.

Arrange the tomatoes and capers on a non stick baking tray and cook under the grill preheated to medium for 5 minutes or until the tomato skins have softened and the capers are crisp.

Put the pasta, capsicums, salmon, tomatoes, capers, spinach, basil, lemon zest and olive oil into a bowl and toss to combine. Serves 4.

This was the recipe that I took from Pregnancy Food by Jody Vassallo (no, neither Philip or I are pregnant), however I did change it slightly to suit myself. I didn't have capers, so included Kalamta olive instead and I did not shred the spinach, I didn't see the need. I also used much less salmon, even though I would have been halving this recipe, because I was only making it for two, I used a salmon fillet that was 150g - it was all I had! We did without the lemon zest too. We both enjoyed it though.

Vegetarian Risotto

I have made the Ratatouille Provencale a few times now because it's full of my favourite vegetables and it is really rather easy. I like to eat it on its own, but Philip likes his with pasta. I was trying to think of something to make yesterday, using eggplant, capsicum and zucchini, but I didn't just want to serve up the ratatouille again. I thought it would work well with mixing it with a plain risotto, which is exactly what I did and it was good.


Basic Baked Risotto

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups arborio rice
4 1/2 cups stock
1 cup finely grated parmesan
40g unsalted butter
sea salt and cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°. Place the rice and stock in a 10-cup capacity baking dish and stir to combine. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes or until most of the stock is absorbed and the rice is al dente. Stir through the parmesan, butter, salt and pepper. Serves 4.

I timed them so that the risotto went into the oven when the ratatouille had about 40 minutes to
go so they would be ready together. I put some risotto into a bowl and then stirred through the ratatouille, sprinkle some shaved parmesan - simple!

From Donna Hay's A Cook's Guide.




Spencer thought he would enjoy some leftovers for lunch today, he loves eggplant!

Cheat's Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse

I didn't take a pic last time as I didn't bother putting it into a nice glass. I made this again tonight and managed a snapshot!

It was delicious, so easy and oh so nice! Recipe here.

White Fish with Pine Nut Brown Butter

I went to the fish shop today and bought some swordfish, they were out of rockling and I was pretty sure I had a recipe marked that called for swordfish. Of course when I got home, I couldn't find the recipe I was thinking of, but found another so it all ended well.

Ingredients

100g butter
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons pine nuts, roughly chopped
2 firm white fish fillets (I used swordfish)
steamed greens to serve

Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium heat until butter is light golden in colour. Add lemon juice and pine nuts and cook for one minute. Add fish to pan and cook for 2 minutes on each side or to your liking. Serve fish on steamed greens (I used brocollini), with the brown pine nut butter sauce. Serves 2.

I did receive positive comments from Philip, so that was good and it was very nice, I made sure I put the brocollini through the pine nut brown butter before I put it on the plate and I also included roasted amoroso tomatoes.



We had a bottle of Red Hill Estate Chardonnay to share on this very warm, stormy night.

This recipe comes from Marie Claire - Food Fast by Donna Hay first published in 1999.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

I bought some chicken this week and I was going to use it! I love the idea of Simmered Red Curry Chicken and Sticky Thai Chicken, but I know that I have a husband that is not going to be as keen on those as I am. So, I searched for something that woul suit us both and I came acroos the Parmesan Crusted Chicken, mmm, delicious!

Ingredients

4 chicken breast fillets
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
2 cups finely grated parmesan cheese
cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Dip the chicken breasts into the egg whites then toss into the combined parmesan and pepper to coat. Place in the baking tray and cook for 15 minutes or until the chicken is golden and cooked through. Serve with a simple rocket and tomato salad. Serves 4. I kept in the oven for 20 minutes and the chicken was perfectly done, I wouldn't have kept it in any longer.

*You must use good quality parmesan for a crunchy crust.



I had mine with the simple salad, Philip had his with mashed potato, peas and asparagus (well, truth be told, I had some asparagus too), something a little more substantial for him. This meal definitely got the two thumbs up as Philip commented that it was really nice.

This recipe is from Donna Hay's The Instant Cook and we had this with a bottle of Red Hill Estate Chardonnay.

Isobel's Breakfast Smoothie

Isobel is a big fan of Boost Juice's All Berry Bang smoothie, I am not, I think they are far too expensive for what they are. I told her I could make smoothies just as good, however the smoothies I was making weren't quite to her taste and didn't taste like the All Berry Bang, apparently. As I didn't want to get pestered each time we went to Doncaster Shoppingtown, I decided I would bite the bullet and buy some apple juice, the key ingredient for the Boost Juice smoothies. Isobel was so impressed she wanted me to share it. There are no exact quantities, I guess it would depend how much you want to make.

Ingredients

Ice cubes
Frozen raspberries (couple of handfulls)
Frozen blueberries (one handfull)
Apple juice
Jalna strawberry yoghurt

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

Cheat's Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse

I did this at 9 o'clock last night, as it didn't state that it needed time to chill, I didn't really plan ahead, apart from having the ingredients on hand. Can't get a much better combination than choc/hazelnut, so I was looking forward to it and wasn't disappointed. I will say that I do think it needs time to chill, so I will make it again giving it some chilling time.

Ingredients

300ml sinlge (pouring) cream
1 tablespoon hazelnut liqueur (lucky we had a bottle of Frangelico in the house)
1/4 cup (85g) chocolate hazelnut spread (I used Nutella)

Place the cream in a bowl and whisk until just starting to thicken. Stir the liqueur through the chocolate nut spread. Add to the cream and whisk gently until combined and thick. Spoon the mousse mixture into glasses and serve. Serves 4.

As it was late, I didn't bother with putting it in nice glasses, therefore there is no pic, however next time I will make sure I get one in nice glasses.


This comes from Donna Hay's Fast, Fresh, Simple.