- 1 cup of Walnuts (baked in the oven at 180 degrees until brown ~ 5-10 mins)
- 3/4 a large pomegranate
- Fresh rocket
- 1 1/2 cups ricotta
- drizzled with extra virgin olive oil
Just throw all ingredients together and mix well.
Showing posts with label Salad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Salad. Show all posts
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Pomegranate, Walnut, Rocket & Ricotta Salad
- 1 cup of Walnuts (baked in the oven at 180 degrees until brown ~ 5-10 mins)
- 3/4 a large pomegranate
- Fresh rocket
- 1 1/2 cups ricotta
- drizzled with extra virgin olive oil
Just throw all ingredients together and mix well.
String bean, cucumber, feta and mint salad
1 cup of Walnuts (baked in the oven at 180 degrees until brown ~ 5-10 mins)
- 3/4 a large pomegranate
- Fresh rocket
- 1 1/2 cups ricotta
- drizzled with extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cups chopped string beans
- 3 cucumbers cored and chopped
- 1 large Spanish onion
- 150g feta
- large handful of chopped mint
- drizzle generously with extra virgin olive oil
Just throw all ingredients together and mix well.
- 3/4 a large pomegranate
- Fresh rocket
- 1 1/2 cups ricotta
- drizzled with extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cups chopped string beans
- 3 cucumbers cored and chopped
- 1 large Spanish onion
- 150g feta
- large handful of chopped mint
- drizzle generously with extra virgin olive oil
Just throw all ingredients together and mix well.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Boxing Day cooking in Potts Pt
After staying in Potts Pt for a few weeks (a mini holiday for me) I decided to make the most of it and try many new recipes with ingredients I haven't used before.
So for dinner with a friend I decided that instead of just one main, I'd do three salads instead. Although I will admit that I recycled a salad my Mum made for Christmas, but I just loved it so much I stole some as I left home that evening. It is her special braised octopus, parsley, garlic salad with cherry tomatoes olive oil and lemon juice. It is honestly.....to die for! I had to fight my cousin for the right to take home the left overs.
Well as also claimed some fresh prawns I wanted to use them Thai style. So I looked through a variety of Thai books to get an idea of the flavours that were in a classic Thai Prawn salad and then I went shopping which sounds simple, and in theory it is. I did get most of the ingredients between going to both Coles in Kings Cross and Woolworths in Potts Pt, but the one ingredients I just couldn't find was shredded coconut....so I had to buy a fresh coconut It seemed like a good idea at the time but even following the directions I found it impossible to crack the shell.
The directions said pierce it with a skewer and drain out the juice (well a sharp knife did zilch so I have no idea how a skewer would have worked). I didn't know what to do. I started hacking away at it, in a little kitchen, but nothing was happening. OK. Step 2 directed me to place it in the oven for 10 minutes to dry out the inside so the shell would crack, after I had drained out the juice. It seemed like a good idea to dry out the shell anyways, maybe it would have been easier to crack it with a knife later. After about 25 minutes and an enormous amount of hacking I obtained a small slit in the shell and then used a knife to make a hole large enough to finally get the juice out.....then another 20 minutes in the oven to dry it out enough to crack about 1/5 of the shell off. It was enough for my salad but honestly the hardest ingredient I have ever worked with....literally. I was told after to just use a hammer next time.
So I combined the coriander, mint, Spanish onion, prawn, capsicum, coconut and dressing in a lime, fish sauce, palm sugar sauce. It turned out really lovely and fresh.
The last salad I wanted t make, a bit of a favourite of mine, was a fennel, red ruby grapefruit and Pecorino salad. Although I usually use a mandolin, this time I was without so it tested my knife skills, and it turned out ok, but the paper thinness of the fennel really changes this dish especially once it takes up the lemon juice and olive oil dressing. The difference this time is that I used Pecorino as opposed to Parmesan, which is a huge difference in flavour. Being sheep milk it has a much stronger and saltier taste but due to the sweetness of the grapefruit and the citrus in the sauce it was balanced so it did not overpower.
So for dinner with a friend I decided that instead of just one main, I'd do three salads instead. Although I will admit that I recycled a salad my Mum made for Christmas, but I just loved it so much I stole some as I left home that evening. It is her special braised octopus, parsley, garlic salad with cherry tomatoes olive oil and lemon juice. It is honestly.....to die for! I had to fight my cousin for the right to take home the left overs.
Well as also claimed some fresh prawns I wanted to use them Thai style. So I looked through a variety of Thai books to get an idea of the flavours that were in a classic Thai Prawn salad and then I went shopping which sounds simple, and in theory it is. I did get most of the ingredients between going to both Coles in Kings Cross and Woolworths in Potts Pt, but the one ingredients I just couldn't find was shredded coconut....so I had to buy a fresh coconut It seemed like a good idea at the time but even following the directions I found it impossible to crack the shell.
The directions said pierce it with a skewer and drain out the juice (well a sharp knife did zilch so I have no idea how a skewer would have worked). I didn't know what to do. I started hacking away at it, in a little kitchen, but nothing was happening. OK. Step 2 directed me to place it in the oven for 10 minutes to dry out the inside so the shell would crack, after I had drained out the juice. It seemed like a good idea to dry out the shell anyways, maybe it would have been easier to crack it with a knife later. After about 25 minutes and an enormous amount of hacking I obtained a small slit in the shell and then used a knife to make a hole large enough to finally get the juice out.....then another 20 minutes in the oven to dry it out enough to crack about 1/5 of the shell off. It was enough for my salad but honestly the hardest ingredient I have ever worked with....literally. I was told after to just use a hammer next time.
So I combined the coriander, mint, Spanish onion, prawn, capsicum, coconut and dressing in a lime, fish sauce, palm sugar sauce. It turned out really lovely and fresh.
The last salad I wanted t make, a bit of a favourite of mine, was a fennel, red ruby grapefruit and Pecorino salad. Although I usually use a mandolin, this time I was without so it tested my knife skills, and it turned out ok, but the paper thinness of the fennel really changes this dish especially once it takes up the lemon juice and olive oil dressing. The difference this time is that I used Pecorino as opposed to Parmesan, which is a huge difference in flavour. Being sheep milk it has a much stronger and saltier taste but due to the sweetness of the grapefruit and the citrus in the sauce it was balanced so it did not overpower.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Cheese Room Christmas Lunch
After much organisation us Cheese Girls (well I can't really say that anymore now that we have Andy and Keppel) have organised a nice Christmas lunch. The way it will work is we each bring a dish or two and our trusty Sommilier will organise the drinks for us.
I have decided to start by whipping up two salads, as they are usually forgotten and are one of my favourite dishes, especially in the heat of the summer. The first will be a simple Panzanella Salad which consists of diced tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, Spanish onions, EV olive oil, a good balsamic and toasted sourdough croutons to soak up all the juices. After looking up many differenet versions of the Panzanella I decided simple is best. No need for capers, anchovies etc as I feel there is enough flavour if you get really good produce.
The second salad I made up was a shredded cabbage salad marinated in a lemon vinaigrette and served with shaved Reggiano. It is very simple but a nice light accompaniment to a main dish. I dressed the salad a couple of hours ahead of time so the cabbage wasn't so stiff and softened up slightly.
BUT the dish that impressed the most was the Chocolate Ganache Caramel Tart. I started this recipe on Satruday afternoon by making the sweet pastry, fridging it, blind baking then baking it. This time I didn't overcook the pastry as the first time I tried it I thought it was still too soft as I forgot it hardens as it cools. Well after the pastry was done it was time to attack the caramel.....this is where the fun begins.
Sugar goes through many stages before it turns into toffee and last time I did it I missed the window by only about 20 seconds to turn it into caramel (by adding cream, butter and salt) and it burnt so this time I was being very careful. It was going very well and starting to turn a light brown when I stirred it and it splat up and onto my hand, burning me quite badly.
When it processed that I needed to wash my hand the burn was quite bad and because I spent time washing my hand, of course the caramel burnt, so I had to to it all again although since I had used the plain stainless steel pot and couldn't wash it straight away (as it needed to be soaked) I needed to use a non-stick pot. This sounds good in theory as it will be easier to clean the caramel at the end, but it doesn't allow the sugar to heat up as much and go through all the stages it would normally go through.
It did work out in the end, although not as clear as when I previously have done it in a plain stainless steel pot, but I didn't care by this stage. I poured it into the pastry and put it in the fridge to set overnight. The next morning it was looking good and I was in brighter spirits to make the chocolate ganache topping. The key to making smooth ganache is to heat the cream before adding the chocolate. I melted my chocolate before combining them just so they blended completely. Once when I have done it with very cold chocolate and cold cream in the douvble boiler they didn't combine completely and the end result was slightly lumpy and not smooth like it should be. Once I had finished the ganache i poured it thickly over the tart and set it in the fridge again for at least 3hrs before serving it.
I will admit it is a very long process but SOOOOO worth it as I was told it was pure decidence, so at least my labour and pain was not a waste.
I have decided to start by whipping up two salads, as they are usually forgotten and are one of my favourite dishes, especially in the heat of the summer. The first will be a simple Panzanella Salad which consists of diced tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, Spanish onions, EV olive oil, a good balsamic and toasted sourdough croutons to soak up all the juices. After looking up many differenet versions of the Panzanella I decided simple is best. No need for capers, anchovies etc as I feel there is enough flavour if you get really good produce.
The second salad I made up was a shredded cabbage salad marinated in a lemon vinaigrette and served with shaved Reggiano. It is very simple but a nice light accompaniment to a main dish. I dressed the salad a couple of hours ahead of time so the cabbage wasn't so stiff and softened up slightly.
BUT the dish that impressed the most was the Chocolate Ganache Caramel Tart. I started this recipe on Satruday afternoon by making the sweet pastry, fridging it, blind baking then baking it. This time I didn't overcook the pastry as the first time I tried it I thought it was still too soft as I forgot it hardens as it cools. Well after the pastry was done it was time to attack the caramel.....this is where the fun begins.
Sugar goes through many stages before it turns into toffee and last time I did it I missed the window by only about 20 seconds to turn it into caramel (by adding cream, butter and salt) and it burnt so this time I was being very careful. It was going very well and starting to turn a light brown when I stirred it and it splat up and onto my hand, burning me quite badly.
When it processed that I needed to wash my hand the burn was quite bad and because I spent time washing my hand, of course the caramel burnt, so I had to to it all again although since I had used the plain stainless steel pot and couldn't wash it straight away (as it needed to be soaked) I needed to use a non-stick pot. This sounds good in theory as it will be easier to clean the caramel at the end, but it doesn't allow the sugar to heat up as much and go through all the stages it would normally go through.
It did work out in the end, although not as clear as when I previously have done it in a plain stainless steel pot, but I didn't care by this stage. I poured it into the pastry and put it in the fridge to set overnight. The next morning it was looking good and I was in brighter spirits to make the chocolate ganache topping. The key to making smooth ganache is to heat the cream before adding the chocolate. I melted my chocolate before combining them just so they blended completely. Once when I have done it with very cold chocolate and cold cream in the douvble boiler they didn't combine completely and the end result was slightly lumpy and not smooth like it should be. Once I had finished the ganache i poured it thickly over the tart and set it in the fridge again for at least 3hrs before serving it.
I will admit it is a very long process but SOOOOO worth it as I was told it was pure decidence, so at least my labour and pain was not a waste.
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