Ah Spain! I visited San Sebastian when I was in Paris for my extended time last year. It always amazes me how you catch a train over a border and within a minute everything has changed. How just a few metres can designate a change of style, food, language. Spain is very different to France. They are more laid back and passionate. I feel very sad to hear about Spain’s economic worries, however when I visited, the culture was still alive and well. Tapas bars were full of people enjoying themselves.

Now that I am back in Brisbane and the weather is turning cool, it is so nice to go out with friends for lunch. We went to Harvey’s on the weekend, one place I visit often. The renovations are so lovely and the sun was streaming in the window and we were served a fantastic meal. I ordered a saffron and seafood risotto. It was so delicious that later in the week I attempted to replicate it. Because not all my family enjoy prawns and mussels I made it with just the fish. I am sure this is not as complicated as the one I ate at Harvey’s however it is enjoyable.

Saffron and Snapper Risotto

Ingredients

100 grams of unsalted butter

1/4 of olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic crushed

a pinch of saffron

sea salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon of cumin, paprika, turmeric, cayenne and coriander

Add chilli to taste

2 small pieces of snapper fillet without bones

2 cups of arborio risotto rice

1 litre of fish stock

Juice of one lemon

Zest of one lemon

1 cup of Passata, puttenesca if possible (see photo)

2 cup of peas

1/2 cup of green olives chopped in half

1/2 cup of roasted capsicum sliced into pieces

Method

In a large heavy based pan fry onions and garlic and a pinch of saffron in oil and butter.

Add the rest of the spices.

Just let the onions and garlic soften and then add the snapper fillets cut into small pieces.

Next add the risotto rice and stir until well coated careful not to break up the fish.

Add the puttenesca sauce and 1 cup of the fish stock and stir slowly.

When the sauce is beginning to be absorbed add the rest of the fish stock one cup at a time and stir.

During this time, add one cup of peas and chopped capsicum, olives and lemon juice.

When the risotto is cooked garnish with the lemon zest and serve in big bowls with a lemon wedge.

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In Australia the only public holiday that we have every year to commemorate a war is Anzac day.  Our other public holidays are because of important dates on the christian calendar or the Queen’s birthday and there is Labour Day. Other countries have more than one occasion to mark the significance of  war during their history. Traditionally we bake Anzac biscuits on the 25th of April. A biscuit recipe that was written so that women worried about their loved ones, could send something for the soldiers to eat. It had to be something that could last the long trip by boat and would still be delicious.

I thought I would take the Anzac Biscuit and modify the recipe to make an Anzac Cake this year. I added a hint of rosemary to the ingredients as it signifies remembrance. As I have grown older I have realised that these things that Australians do are important. It is what makes us all Australians. The game of two up at the pub, the dawn service, the baking of Anzac biscuits, the parade. I don’t want all these things to be lost. These are the things that people travel from other countries to see. I don’t want the whole world to be the same, so I would encourage everyone to think about what they adopt when they try something new. If you decide to start saying “Oh My God!” instead of “Struth!” just remember that the saying is straight from America. Let’s cherish the things that identify Australia.

Here is the recipe if you feel like trying my variation on the Anzac theme.

Ingredients

Serves: 10

• 125g unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup Australian honey
• 6 eggs
• 1 cup SR flour
• 125g (11/3 cups) rolled oats
• 150g (1 2/3 cups) desiccated coconut
• 60g brown sugar
• Zest of two lemons and juice of one
• 1 Sprig of rosemary

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees and grease and line an average round cake tin.

2. Melt the butter and Australian honey in a medium pot then remove from the heat.

3.Mix together the flour, rolled oats coconut and sugar.

4. Add zest of lemons and lemon juice and chop leaves from one small sprig of rosemary and add

5. When the butter/honey mix has cooled beat in the eggs. Then mix this all in together with the dry ingredients.

6. Pour it into the cake tin and cook in the preheated oven for 35 minutes – but check at 30 with a skewer to see if its done.

 

No Comments | In: Cakes | | #

Over the Easter break we were invited to three celebrations. As I am “Everydaycook” I offer to bring the desserts. This meant that I made three cakes in three days. Of course in between I made dinners and some special Easter cookies and of course…. brownies, however three cakes in three days meant I needed to be quite clever in my cooking.

The First cake was served after a heavy curry and I thought a lighter cake would be a good idea. The second cake needed to be gluten free and the third was really up to me. I decided to make the first and second at the same time and just change the syrup and the fruit so the cakes looked different but were not really. I used my Polenta with Baked Pear and syrup recipe I changed the recipe just slightly and added 1 cup of roasted pistachios to the mix.

The first polenta cake was served with an orange syrup and orange segments. All you do is make a sugar syrup with a cup of orange juice and peel and segment an orange.  I made Eater bunny sugar biscuits to decorate the cake with. The second polenta cake was served with the baked pears as in the recipe.

Serves 8
Prep time 15 mins, cook 30 mins (plus cooling)

The third cake was an Apple and Ricotta cake. We ate it with great friends after a delicious roast pork. One of the children said they preferred my chocolate cake but the adults were happy with something lighter after pork.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
• 200 grams unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 200 grams of ricotta (about 3/4 cup)
• 2 large eggs $
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups sliced peeled Granny Smith apples

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, unsalted butter, vanilla, and ricotta cheese at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 4 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, beating at low speed until blended.
3. Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Combine 2 tablespoons cinnamon mixture and apple in a bowl, and stir apple. Place in the microwave on medium for 50 secs until slightly cooked then mix 3/4 of the apples  into batter.  Pour batter into spring form tin and decorate with remaining pieces of apple coated with sugar and cinnamon
4. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Cool the cake completely on a wire rack. Can be served with cream or ice cream.

In between all these cakes I managed to make some Easter biscuits and I coated them in royal icing. I will have to have another practice at these as my piping nozzle was not fine enough to make them look really professional. It was fun though.

No Comments | In: Cakes, Gluten Free | | #