mushroom caps with raisin, pine nuts, parmesan and spice

pasta first, then...?

catching up

There are many images to upload since my last post in June 2007 (it's now 2008!) so I will avoid excessive description, if I provide any at all. Hopefully this year will bring a greater sense of attentiveness to this blog.

 

 

 

new place to buy wine

I am very excited about the new Dan Murphy's which opened in QV today. It means that I no longer have to travel far to get wine or pay ridiculous prices at Safeway Liquor. On the way home from coffee, reading, writing and also being distracted by arguing about the state of the world at Mr. Tulk with my partner we stopped to check it out. I couldn't leave without a bottle of Elderton Shiraz to drink before going out tonight.

my partner made an excellent cypriot-style leg of lamb

The meal began with a rocket, parsley, cherry tomato and fried halloumi salad dressed and seasoned with olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper.

I wasn't allowed to read the recipe but I understand that it comes from one of my cookbooks called "Cooking from Cyprus" by Nearchos Nicolaou. The lamb was undercooked according to the recipe and how I remember meat being cooked back home but then again I had to wait through most of my youth before I lived abroad and got the opportunity to try how much better meats like lamb taste when they aren't overcooked. I was apprehensive about the wine, an unfinished bottle of Earth's Portrait, 2006 Chardonnay from the other night, but it worked well for me.

fast-forward five years to the present

I've obviously skipped over so much to get here but I was anxious to get to the present. This was tonight's meal. In the first picture you can see leeks, onions and garlic cooking gently with butter and olive oil.

The final result seen here is a heavily blended potato and leek soup with smoked salmon, poached egg and garnished with parsley.

I got the recipe from Philip Johnson's book 'Classic Ecco' and I was a bit nervous about the combination at first but it was exceptionally good with the Tasmanian salmon I used because its flavour wasn't too over-powering.

My partner chose to have it without the salmon and egg. She went with the parsley though and I thought it was beautiful how the parsley looked like a butterfly.

The freshly cracked pepper added the necessary, fragrant dusting to make for a meal that won't be forgotten on what was a special day for us.

bugs, broccolini and cucumber salad

Morton Bay Bugs are my partner's favourite crustacean. Here they're pre-cooked and then marinated briefly in a lime, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper mixture then grilled on super high to get those full charred smells running throughout the meat. The broccolini was steamed and then dripped with melted butter. The cucumber salad was dressed with the remainder of the marinade.

my memory fails me but I can still smell the meal

I've actually forgotten exactly what this is but I'm going to try describing it anyway. I know that I cooked the potatoes in some kind of broth and then drizzled them with a saffron sauce. The asparagus was grilled with butter, salt and pepper on very high heat so that its surface could be crunchy, the outer layer soft and the core still a bit fresh tasting. The fish if I'm not mistaken is barramundi and there's some kind of salsa on top.

bacon, oh beautiful bacon

Speaks for itself

speaking of olive oil

I couldn't resist, I just had to share this. It was a label that came along with Jingilli olive oil, which by the way is pretty good.