It’s definitely worthwhile taking the mussels out of their shells for this wonderful spaghetti dish. Clean 3 kg (6½ lbs) of mussels. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add the mussels, cover and cook over high heat until all open. This should take about 5 minutes. Drain the…… Continue reading spaghetti with mussels
Tag: recipe
hazelnut, ricotta and chocolate cake
Here’s another cake from Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh’s SWEET. Instead of mini cakes with chocolate ganache I opted for one 6″ cake and kept it plain. This cake performs a balancing act between hazelnut cake and baked ricotta cake. With little dots of dark chocolate throughout it’s dense, super moist and keeps incredibly well.…… Continue reading hazelnut, ricotta and chocolate cake
mexican brunch
We love our lazy late breakfast or brunch. And Mexican food is the perfect way to wake up your tastebuds. Finely chop 1 onion, 1 red pepper, 1 chorizo and 1 fresh chilli and fry them in a little oil until the onions are translucent and soft. Add a drained can of kidney beans, some…… Continue reading mexican brunch
cooking in the fire
It’s winter here and when the wood-burning stove is going we take the opportunity to use it for cooking. Sadly, the previous owners who installed the stove didn’t buy one with a stovetop but cooking in coals is an age-old method and seasoned cast iron camp ovens (Dutch ovens) have been used for hundreds of…… Continue reading cooking in the fire
pie
While in Pittsburgh I took part in a cooking and baking day. We all cooked food that we had grown up with which resulted in a delicious array of savoury and sweet dishes from Australia and the US. The final dish was the star – a blueberry pie made by Jon. Pie is the quintessential American…… Continue reading pie
sultana yoghurt cake
Just part of a wonderful lunch with friends, Caroline baked this cake from Turquoise: A Chef’s Travels in Turkey by Greg and Lucy Malouf. Dotted with plump sultanas, the texture was somewhere between custard and cheesecake with a subtle not-too-sweet yoghurt flavour. Preheat your oven to 180ºC (350ºF) and grease and line a 20cm (8″) springform cake…… Continue reading sultana yoghurt cake
soda bread
What to do when you’ve run out of bread and can’t get to the shops? Soda bread is an excellent quick bread which doesn’t require any special bread flour or yeast. Traditional Irish soda bread has only 4 ingredients: plain flour, bicarbonate of soda (the raising agent), salt and buttermilk. These days we don’t churn…… Continue reading soda bread
lamb shanks with rice and lemon
These Greek-style Lamb shanks, one of Yotam Ottolenghi’s one-pot-wonders-recipes, are packed with flavour. If you can get the lamb shanks to stand up they look pretty amazing too. Heat some olive oil in a large casserole over medium heat and fry 200g of peeled and halved shallots for three to four minutes until well browned. Remove them…… Continue reading lamb shanks with rice and lemon
hazelnut, apricot and mascarpone layer cake
I saved this recipe so long ago that I’ve forgotten where I found it. I’m glad I finally made it. The hazelnut cake was a little chewy and meringue-like and the combination of flavours was wonderful. It looked good too! I made the four layers of this cake in two 15.25cm (6″) cake tins. To make…… Continue reading hazelnut, apricot and mascarpone layer cake
huevos rancheros
Here’s a great wake-up breakfast – fried eggs served the Mexican way. If you want to make your own fresh tortillas (and there’s nothing better!) see how to do it here. These ones were made with blue corn masa which is a little coarser than white corn masa and therefore results in thicker tortillas. To…… Continue reading huevos rancheros
michelle picker cooks 