let's go surfing now

Tonight Didds and I are boarding a jet plane, the beginning of our surfing safari. 

Tomorrow we will board this:

On our way to this:

To do this:

 

So I will be offline for the next fortnight, having an absolute ball!  Can't wait!!!

Hope everyone has a fabulous Easter and eats way too much chocolate!!!

Happy eating!!!

Sam

buon compleanno!!!

A little bit wierd putting the shout out to a big happy birthday to myself .... but, here goes...

What a cracking weekend!  Way too much pinot, beer, chardonnay, cider, shots, food.  Pretty much everything! Glutinous.

Quarter of a century is a big thing and there is only one way to come to terms with the realisation that I am getting old!!! Drinks with my closest friends and, of course, my family.

Birthday presents a plenty.... Truly spoiled. Beautiful shirt and a couple of bottles of Pinot from the brother.  Vintage milk jug + succulents from sister.  Plenty of vino and cook books from the extended fam!!! Cash from Mims and Didds (they know me too well!!)

I really want to make a point of how fabulous my day has been today!!!  I don't think there could have been a better way to celebrate. Lunch with the fam at Il Centro and then kicked on with some beers at Crosstown in the Gabba.  I have finally made it home now and am absolutely exhausted - my cheeks hurt from the laughter....

I honeslty think that there is nothing better than a meal with my family.  We talked so much rubbish.  We laughed.  We had a family fued.  We were clearly too loud for the other patrons.  Max (the 1 year old baby with a personality to knock your socks off) befriended our neighbours. We drank pinot and Didds even got a Gamberri Pizza (despite there being nothing remotely similar to this on the menu)... Lucky to get out in one piece...

All in all, a great celebration for a quarter of a century. 

I hope everyone's weekend was as fabulous as mine!!!

Happy eating!

Sam

sunday lunch

As those of you who read the blog earlier this week would know today I hosted lunch for 8 of my work friends.  After an extremely exhausting week (I reckon it was the most difficult on record) I surprised myself in being able to pull together a decent feed....

More surprising than the quality of the food was the cleanliness of the house... Despite the endless personal protests I think the hours of cleaning this morning were worth it.  I transformed what looked more like a bomb shelter into a functioning flat.  Even the team appreciated how 'neat and tidy' everything was. . . If only they were here a couple of hours earlier.

I didn't take photos of the food as I think they would have thought I was a little strange - not sure that they have all embraced the whole blog thing yet... So I am left with the early photos of the table, which I snuck in before everyone arrived... 

The succulents on the table are courtesy of my wonderfully generous sister.  An early birthday present apparently.  A fabulous gift!!!  I think it is all part of her latest obsession - her garden. 

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  It has started to get cooler here and I have begun planning what winter treats are in order. . .  These will obviously be posted here sometime soon.

Happy eating!!!

Sam

party planning

After an extremely tough couple of days all I could think about today was getting home from work and having some downtime with myself and a glass of my favourite red wine... and of course, spending some time organising the table.

When I say organising the table, I mean that I had some time to plan what I am going to cook this weekend.  This Sunday I am having a group of work mates around for lunch and I have been charged with the responsibility of providing the food.  A lot of people from work have heard about my love of cooking so I think they are expecting big things! 

I turned to my cook book and magazine collection for some inspiration but in the end I think I am going to rely on some trustworthy family favourites... At this stage (things will more than likely change between now and Sunday) this is what I have come up with....

To pick at to start with:

cold cuts - salami / sopressa

homemade fetta / rocket dip

roasted cherry tomatoes with basil and olive oil

selection of cheeses

crusty bread / crackers

To dig into for main meal:

Marinated butterflied leg of lamb grilled on the BBQ (marinated in olive oil, garlic, rosemary and mint and served with lemon and apricot jam)

Salad of cabbage (red and green), celery, apple, walnuts, mint and a fetta / olive oil dressing [or we could have peas with mint and fetta, which is also a winner]

roast potatoes with chilli and onion

and a frittata for the vegos.

Desert - I have been told that I need to leave this to someone else (despite my insisting that I can manage to do all the food), so I am looking forward to what Kate and Emma decide to bring along....

I am excited for a much better end to the week and definitely can't wait for the weekend- so many fun and exciting things planned!

Happy eating!!

Sam

things for the table

Last weekend I headed to the markets at Rocklea – a first for me.  What a place to find some inspiration… The quality of the fresh produce was v. impressive.  Amazing fruits that I never knew existed.  Freshly picked staples like beans, tomatoes and dutch carrots . Homemade jams and relishes.  Home marinated olives.  Freshly baked cakes.  Interesting sausage combinations.  Organic poultry and other meat.   The options were endless.  

Equally as impressive were the prices.  I think my bank balance would certainly be less depressing if I could organise myself and make my weekly food purchases here rather than at the gourmet ‘urban’ markets down the road.  It would be nice to be organised.  Maybe someday.

Anyway, knowing that I was heading to mum and dad’s place and knowing mum’s love of freshly cut flowers, I thought I would do some sucking up…. I bought her two large bunches of pink oriental lilies.  She was delighted with the surprise and within minutes of arriving they were in ginger jars on her table.   

It is always nice to have something new and exciting on the table to add some cheer…

Happy eating!!

Sam



crispy ciabatta salad

As promised in my post earlier this week, here's the recipe for the Crispy Ciabatta Salad...

You'll need this:

Half a loaf of ciabatta (you are better off using more as the kitchen scavengers will inevitably pick at this whilst you are waiting for the rest of the salad to cook.  If you are scavenger free, then half a loaf will do just fine)

3-4 cloves of garlic (finely diced)

2-3 large glugs of olive oil

1 red capsicum (sliced)

2 punnets of cherry or grape tomatoes

Freshly picked mixed salad leaves

1 red onion (sliced)

1 handful of green beans (optional extra)

White balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper to season

You'll need to do this:-

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius.

Tear ciabatta into small pieces and add to a baking tray.   Toss with the olive oil and garlic.  Roast in oven for 15 - 20 minutes, or until the bread is golden and crispy. 

At the same time and in a separate baking tray, add capsicum, onion and tomatoes with a light splash of olive oil and roast for 20 - 25 minutes.  You may like to roast the tomatoes in a separate tray as they cook more quickly than the capsicum and onion.  You can also add some finely sliced basil if you like.  Once cooked, leave to cool.

Meanwhile, wash and dry salad leaves and blanch the beans in boiling water for a couple of minutes.  I think the beans need to remain their crunch for this salad.

Lightly toss cooked ingredients through the leaves and dress with a couple of splashes of white balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper and serve.

I hope you enjoy!

Happy eating!!

Sam

homegrown produce

My sister is obsessed with her garden (I think mother is responsible for this...)  and has recently planted a veggie patch.  Even with the endless deliberations over what plant should go where, I am extremely excited as we are now enjoying the fruits of her labour. 

Last Saturday morning I was at mum and dad's when Anna made her entrance with a gift from her garden - we were confronted with the largest basket of freshly picked salad anyone could ever imagine.

I am not normally inspired by vegetarian food and I'm not sure what came over me on Saturday, but I was genuinely excited by this basket of greenery. I think it was the idea of eating something that was grown just metres from the kitchen that enthused me so much.  Despite being on a sizeable plot, I am not sure that a flock of sheep or a heard of cattle would go too well at the homestead so for now I guess I will have to settle for the lettuce and other greenery.

Anyway, last weekend's challenge - what to do with such fabulously fresh and tasty leaves.   The answer - crispy ciabatta salad, served with roast chickens.

The chickens were a perfect accompaniment to the salad.  I say this with all the respect in the world for the chickens as they were delicious in their own right, but this type of salad is definitely the hero of the meal.  It is so good and there is so much going on that you could probably have it on its own and be left feeling absolutely content.  I guess I (and the rest of the family for that matter) struggle coming to terms with not having some sort of meat on the table though, especially when roast chooks are on offer!

To me, this is a fantastic way to spend an afternoon - around the table on the deck at the homestead with a home cooked feast and a couple of glasses of vino.  I can't wait to do it again and I am waiting in anticipation for what Anna will harvest next.

Recipe for the salad to follow tomorrow.

Happy eating!!!

Sam