Not since Dr Kimberly Shaw ripped her wig off on Melrose Place have I been so excited…
GROUP is finally available on Apple Books, so get downloading!
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Confession time…
Confession: I’m More Afraid Of Mothers’ Group Than Being A New Parent
“It takes a village to raise a child, and in most urban societies we’re sorely lacking in that sense of traditional community support for parents. Most people are lucky to have a monthly FaceTime with their family, let alone reap the benefits of intergenerational experience and shared knowledge. But at what point did someone have the bright idea of shoving a bunch of hormonal, sleep-deprived women in a room together – none of whom know what day it is, let alone offer any genius insights into how to look after a newborn – and think that was an adequate replacement?”
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Indian Stirfry
Wait, Indian Stirfry?! Say what?
OK, I know I sound like I’m crossing my cuisines here, but stay with me… This is a riff on a traditional Indian side dish called Karahi Broccoli, which gets its name from the pot it’s cooked in, a Karahi (or Karhai)… pretty much an Indian version of a wok. Don’t happen to have a traditional Indian cooking vessel lying around the house? A normal wok or fry pan will do just fine (I prefer non-stick so you can use less oil).
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Avocado: you’re doing it wrong
We’ve all been there. You’ve bought a hard avocado. Every day you squeeze it gently, hoping that this, surely this would be the day it’s ripe enough to eat. Finally, you feel the flesh give under your greedy fingertips. At last! You cut through the black skin, anticipating the creamy deliciousness on the inside, and… ew. Bruised, browned, and downright bleurgh.
Let’s face it: there are few things more culinarily disappointing than a dud avo. How are you meant to enjoy your smashed avo toast in your overpriced Sydney property without it?! So I was very excited – nay, exhilarated – to learn the following life hack, which I’m going to share with you now.
Checking your avocado? YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG. That’s right, if you want to know if it’s ready to eat, you need to be feeling for softness at the top of the avo near the stem, not squeezing the lower cheeks. Hold the avocado upright, and use one finger to press down – if you feel it give, it’s ripe and ready to rock. Still hard, and you’ll need a few days. Trust me, even if the cheeks still feel firm to the touch, if the top is soft, you’re in business. By the time the cheeks soften, the avocado can be past it’s prime, getting brown – or those weird dark stringy veins they can get (yuck).
Don’t thank me – just try it. It’ll change your life.
Orecchiette with Broccoli
Orecchiette with Broccoli
Over summer we were lucky enough to have a friend stay with us who is a) Italian, and b) a professionally trained cook. Best houseguest ever, right?! Although this definitely put the pressure on my own culinary abilities (let’s just say that compared to a pro, my knife skills resemble a toddler painting with an eel), we were treated to several beautiful home cooked meals (and home cooking is always better when it’s someone else cooking).
We had a variety of dishes over the three weeks he was with us, but through all emerged some common themes, which we agreed were the reason Italian food is just so damn good.
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Caprese Salad
If my Facebook feed is to be believed, half of Sydney is currently enjoying a European summer. Italy, the Greek Islands… it’s like the social media world has conspired to make me jealous as hell, and guess what Mark Zuckerberg? It’s WORKED! While everyone else is knocking back Aperol spritzes and partying till dawn, I’m wearing 25 layers of clothing and the only reason I’m up at 3am is to feed my newborn. Yep, J-E-A-L-O-U-S.
So while Instagram has left me summer lovin’, I thought I’d try and eat my emotions – literally. Caprese Salad – the next best thing to being in Capri!*
(*Yeah, I don’t really believe it either)
GO FOR GOLD
Like so much of Italian cuisine, a Caprese Salad works because it’s a simple mix of flavours that all play off each other beautifully. But when you’re only using a few ingredients, you need to make sure they’re the absolute best you can possibly obtain and afford – think quality extra virgin olive oil, real bufala mozzarella (not the hard balls you buy at the supermarket), super ripe tomatoes and lots of fresh herbs. So yeah, I’m probably pushing my luck making this in the dead of winter – not exactly tomato season, is it? But my basil plant at home is still going gangbusters (it clearly thinks it’s in southern Italy, too) and I managed to get a beautiful array of heirloom tomatoes, so away we go!
PIMP IT UP
A traditional Caprese should resemble the Italian flag: red tomatoes, green basil and white mozzarella. However, I’m a sucker for a colourful dish, so love the effect you get with a variety of tomatoes (red, orange, green and yellow). The traditional version would also only feature basil (which is frankly all you need), but if you’re feeling a bit crafty, what’s really beautiful is to add a few finely chopped fresh mint and oregano leaves. Any Italians reading this are probably screaming, ‘No, no!’ reading that, but what’s a tradition without someone breaking it, right?! What’s also delicious is adding one teaspoon of chopped fresh red chilli (no seeds) for a bit of zing. If you want to make something a bit more substantial (say if you’re serving the dish alone for a light lunch), try scattering a handful of rocket leaves on top.
FAST FACTS
- Basil is a real little nutritional powerhouse, boasting anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antiviral properties. It’s also a really good source of vitamin K (you only need half a cup to deliver more than half your required daily intake)
- Tomatoes are chock full of vitamin C, K and beta-carotene (which converts to vitamin A in the body)
- Mozzarella not only contains calcium, but phosphorus – which the body needs in order to use calcium
Caprese Salad (Insalata Caprese)
Serves 4-6 as a side dish
Ingredients
- 750g mixed tomatoes (look for a variety of shapes and sizes – green, yellow, cherry, ox heart, etc)
- 250g bufala mozzarella (2 balls)
- 1 cup freshly picked basil leaves
- Extra virgin olive oil (the best you can get your hands on)
- Balsamic vinegar (the best you can get your hands on)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Method
- Chop your tomatoes in a variety of ways – slices for the larger ones, halved or quartered for the smaller ones. Make it visually interesting so you delight the eyes as well as the taste buds!
- Arrange the tomatoes on a flat serving platter.
- Sprinkle with half the basil (and oregano/mint if using) and salt to taste.
- Tear or slice the mozzarella into manageable pieces, and arrange on top of the tomatoes. Scatter with the remaining herbs.
- Drizzle your olive oil and balsamic over the top. Generally you want 2/3 olive oil to 1/3 balsamic, but don’t get too heavy handed – you want to dress the ingredients, not drown them.
- Finish with a crack of black pepper (again, not too much – simplicity is key here!)
Fig, haloumi and rocket salad
Fig, haloumi and rocket salad
The summer fruit season may be on its last legs, but there’s at least one thing to look forward to before those endless months of apples and pears: figs! Lush, exotic and unique, figs have a season shorter than a Kardashian marriage – just a few measly weeks from late summer to early-mid autumn – which means you’ve got to grab them while you can.
Warning: they also don’t last for very long (heck, even getting them home in one piece can be a drama, squishy little suckers), and refrigerating them can take away a bit of their flavour (although when it’s a million percent humidity, like it has been in Sydney recently, it’s the price you have to pay if you want to avoid your fruit disintegrating within 24 hours).
This salad is REALLY quick, and makes a beautiful meal with some fresh bread, or as an accompaniment to any Middle Eastern flavours. Sweet figs, salty haloumi and bitter rocket – a classic combo, but an effective one.
SUGGESTED ADDITIONS:
- Feeling indulgent? Top with some slices of fresh prosciutto.
- Feeling healthy? Add some lightly toasted pumpkin seeds for added crunch.
FAST FACTS:
- Figs are full of vitamins A, E and K – known for their antioxidant properties.
- They’re also high in fibre and potassium.
- Figs are a good source of prebiotics – which is the type of fibre that feeds healthy gut bacteria. There’s no point eating probiotics if you don’t have prebiotics!
Fig, haloumi and rocket salad
Serves: 2
Ingredients
3 cups baby rocket
4 fresh figs, cut into quarters or eighths, depending on size
180g haloumi, sliced into 1/2 cm pieces
1 sprig fresh mint, leaves picked
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, picked
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Extra olive oil for grilling
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Black pepper
Method
- Combine thyme and olive oil in a small bowl, set aside.
- Brush a griddle pan with olive oil, and get to a medium-high heat. Cook the haloumi until you have dark grill lines on each side – usually around 1-2 minutes each side.
- Meanwhile, toss the rocket and mint leaves together on the plate or bowl you are serving in.
- Arrange the fig pieces, then add the warm haloumi.
- Drizzle salad with the thyme-infused oil and balsamic, then finish with a crack of black pepper.
Chickpea, tomato and bacon stew
Who else has been indulging just a liiiittle bit too much this festive season? Seriously, I’ve been eating more than a Victoria’s Secret model post-catwalk; every little bit of festive cheer that’s been offered, I’ve had two helpings (plus one for the road). But what the hell, right, it is Christmas after all! It’s just unfortunate that Christmas coincides with swimsuit season, which really does seem like a cruel southern hemisphere irony.
Anyway, after all the indulging, I have been feeling like something a bit nourishing and vaguely healthy, so I thought I’d make a hearty chickpea stew. Because it IS Christmas, I felt like I couldn’t go entirely fun-free, hence the bacon (‘cos ain’t no party like a bacon party). But there are just two little ol’ rashers, so it’s not going to completely derail you.
Using canned chickpeas makes this a super-fast meal for midweek, but you know my policy on ‘real’ pulses – if you can be bothered, by all means use them! But for the record, using the tinned ones means you can make this entire dish (including prep time) in half an hour – and that gets a ‘hells yeah’ in my book.
Because of the season, my homegrown thyme is super soft and just generally delicious so I threw it all in whole, but if yours is on the woody side (or just don’t like it), just use the leaves. In most cases I like to add herbs right at the end of a dish so they retain their flavour, colour and don’t totally disintegrate, but given the super-speedy cooking time of this dish I put them in earlier, so they have a chance to flavour the olive oil and bacon fat (trust me, it tastes a lot more delicious than it sounds).
It was a cool and rainy evening when I made this, so I served with rice and a salad on the side, but you could just serve with some steamed vegies and/or salad if you’re feeling virtuous – or on some pasta with a good crack of parmesan if you’re really embracing the festive lifestyle.
Chickpea, tomato and bacon stew
Serves: 4
Ingredients
1 brown onion, diced
1 glove of garlic, crushed or cut very finely
2 rashers of bacon, diced
2 sticks of celery, diced
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 can of crushed tomatoes
Small handful of fresh thyme, leaves picked
2 tbsps chopped fresh European parsley
2 tbsps chopped fresh oregano leaves
Olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Method
- Heat a good glug of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan or casserole dish.
- Add bacon and fry for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add onion, garlic and celery, and continue to fry, until onion is translucent and bacon takes on some colour.
- Add herbs and stir for a minute or two to release their fragrance.
- Add chickpeas and tomato and bring up to a simmer.
- Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Season to taste and serve.
Baked Salmon with Zucchini, Tomato and Thyme
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been feeling decidedly uninspired in the kitchen recently. Not to the point of ordering takeaway every night (although lord knows, I’ve been tempted), but just enough to keep me playing it safe. Blame it on end-of-year malaise or just falling victim to Busy Person Syndrome, I’ve been pretty uncreative with all my meals, particularly with my usual midweek repertoire.
But now summer is a merely weeks away, which means a flood of beautiful fresh new season produce – and if you can’t get inspired by that, then when can you?! And that’s where these babies came in –
How beautiful are they? These incredible ortella tomatoes came in my weekly veggie delivery and as I said, if you can’t get inspired by that…
As well as enjoying them raw, drizzled with a bit of balsamic and EVOO, I decided to turn one of these bad boys into this baked salmon dish, inspired by the taste of a Mediterranean summer. Sure I might be in Sydney, and sure I might have to go to work tomorrow, but a girl can dream, right?
These ortellas are pretty spesh, but any large, firm tomato (e.g. Truss) would be absolutely fine to use. You could do a veggie version (or just use the beans as a side dish for a piece of meat or chicken) but omitting the salmon – simply keep the foil on throughout the entire cooking time.
Baked Salmon with Zucchini, Tomato and Thyme
Serves: 2
Ingredients
- 2 salmon fillets, approx 200g each, skin on
- 1 400g can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed until water runs clear
- 1 large, firm tomato (e.g. Ortella, Truss) – large dice
- 1 zucchini (courgette) – halved lengthways, quartered, then cut into 1cm pieces
- 1/2 Spanish onion, cut into chunks
- 6-8 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 slices of lemon
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Method
- Pre-heat oven to 200C
- Combine beans, tomato, zucchini, onion, the balsamic and a splash of olive oil in a casserole or baking dish. Season then scatter with half the thyme.
3. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
4. Pat the salmon fillets dry, then rub skin side with a little olive oil.
5. Remove beans from oven and uncover. Put a piece of salmon on a slice of lemon (skin side up) resting on top of the bean mixture. Top with remaining thyme and a good crack of salt and pepper.
6. Return to oven and bake for a further 15 minutes. Salmon should be just cooked through with crispy skin.
Cheats’ Spanakopita
Who else is feeling the full brunt of winter? We’ve been playing Pass the Parcel with various colds and ailments in our family, which is why it’s taken me over a week to get around to posting about this Cheats’ Spanakopita. I love all things green as I’ve mentioned once or twice (or maybe 100 times), so Spanakopita is one of my all-time favourite dishes. However, filo pastry is most definitely NOT one of my favourite things to deal with – fiddly and temperamental, two characteristics that are guaranteed to have me run for the hills….