Rosemary pears with sage meatloaf
20 May 2011

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 400g pork mince
  • 400g veal mince
  • 1 onion, grated
  • 2 apples, peeled, grated
  • 1/3 cup sage leaves, chopped
  • 1/2 cup fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 14 (200g) thin slices prosciutto
  • Salt & pepper to taste (remember you will have salt from the prosciutto)
  • 120g snow pea leaf, to serve
     

Rosemary pears

  • 2 large pears, cored, each cut into 6 wedges
  • 2 tablespoons rosemary leaves, chopped (never use dried - yuk!)
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 30g butter, melted

Instructions

Make rosemary pears: Place ingredients in a bowl and stir gently to coat pears. Arrange pears in a single layer in an ovenproof dish. Pour over marinade.

Preheat oven to 200°C. Combine mince, onion, apple, sage, breadcrumbs and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Whisk egg and milk together. Add to mince mixture. Stir to combine.

Line a greased 7cm deep, 12cm x 20cm (base) loaf pan with prosciutto slices, leaving ends hanging over sides. Spoon mince mixture into pan, pressing down firmly with the back of a spoon. Fold prosciutto over to cover top. Bake for 30 minutes. Place pears on shelf below meatloaf and bake both for 30 minutes or until meatloaf is firm in the centre.

Drain fat from meatloaf. Stand meatloaf for 5 minutes. Slice. Serve with pears, snow pea leaf and pear pan juices.

 

 

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Sweetcorn & fennel soup with rosemary & Parmesan crisps
20 May 2011

Serves: 4-6

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

For the soup:
  • 300g of corn , well rinsed & well drained
  • 4  shallots, peeled & finely sliced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled & finely diced
  • 1 fennel bulb, cleaned, hard bottom cut out, the green parts & tips removed, cut into pieces
  • 800ml of hot vegetable stock
  • 3 tbsp of a fruity EVOO
  • juice of 1 lemon (optional)
 
For the Parmesan & rosemary crisps:
  • 150g of fresh parmesan cheese, grated
  • 4 sprigs of fresh thyme chopped finely, sprigs removed

Instructions

Take an oven rack out of the oven & line with a silpat or baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 200°C ( 392 F) for 10 minutes.
 
Take a large cooking pot & turn the heat on high. Add the 3 tablespoons of EVOO to the pot. When hot, add the sliced shallots & the garlic. Fry until a bit brown. Stir a lot.
 
After 3 minutes or so, add the corn & the diced fennel pieces. Fry for about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir a lot.
 
Now, add the hot vegetable stock & stir, turn the heat on medium. Place a lid on the pot & boil until all of the vegetables are cooked trough. This will take about 15 to 20 minutes.

Stir from time to time. When the soup is ready, pour in a blender & blend until smooth or until it is to your liking. This is a thick soup.
 
In the time that your soup is cooking, take your grated Parmesan & fresh rosemary & mix evenly. With your hand, place half handfulls of the cheese thyme mix evenly on the Silpat.
 
With the back of a spoon , flatten the cookies, side by side. You can get about 6 cookies on 1 sheet. Place into the preheated oven & bake for about 5 to 10 minutes until the cheesy cookies are golden brown & cooked.
 
Carefully, take them out of the oven. If they stick to each other, just carefully pull them away. Remove them with a spatula & leave them on a wire rack to cool down a bit. Do the same with the rest of the parmesan & rosemary.
 
Serve with the finished soup.

 

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Roast capsicum with oregano & anchovies
13 May 2011

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 200g green beans blanched in boiling water for 3 minutes
  • 1 yellow capsicum, quartered & deseeded
  • 125ml extra virgin olive oil
  • handful fresh oregano leaves
  • 4 anchovies fillets, roughly chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp capers, drained, roughly chopped

Instructions

Preheat a grill on high.

Place the capsicum pieces, skin-side up, under preheated grill and cook for 8-10 minutes or until charred and blistered. Transfer to a heatproof bowl, cover with a plate or foil and set aside for 10 minutes (this helps lift the skin). Peel the skin from the capsicum pieces and cut the flesh into 1cm-thick slices.

Place the capsicum slices, oil, oregano, anchovies, beans, garlic and capers in a large serving bowl. Gently toss until combined. Transfer to an airtight container and place in the fridge for 1 hour to develop the flavours.

 

 

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Ditalini with fresh borlotti beans, rosemary & tomato
06 May 2011

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients: This is a simple dish relying on freshness and quality of all ingredients.

  • 200g ditalini (the small tubular pasta)
  • 150g borlotti beans in the pod, podded
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 large shallot, finely chopped
  • 2 large sprigs fresh rosemary, one leaves remved and finely chopped
  • 2 large good tomatoes, skinned and finely chopped
  • 600ml good vegetable stock
  • Some good extra virgin olive oil
  • S&P

Instructions

First, I cook the beans in water with a clove of garlic and the sprig of rosemary that’s unchopped with 2 tbsp of olive oil.

Cook for 15-20 minutes until tender and strain the water through a sieve.

Add to the stock or use to make the stock.

Saute the chopped shallot in some olive oil until soft but not brown over a medium heat. Add the garlic, tomato and rosemary and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add the beans, pasta and stock and cook for 10 minutes or so until the pasta is cooked.

Season with S&P.

Serve immediately with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
 
This is important as the pasta will continue to cook in the hot stock.

 

 

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Mikalas smoking warm salad
06 May 2011

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • half a smoked trout
  • 3 tbsp evo olive oil
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp baby capers
  • 1 tsp of the caper vinegar
  • 200g beans
  • 200g cooked diced potatoes (any will do to add body to the salad) or another vegetable- zucchini or baby corn are great.
  • 2 free range organic soft poached eggs.
  • Pinch of sugar

Tell Mikala to wait patiently as perfection can’t be rushed.
(Always hype up your skills, it helps get the washing up done for you!)

Mix the Dijon, caper vinegar and O Oil and a pinch of sugar until it forms a dressing. Taste and season to your preference, remember to make it slightly more acidic as you will need something to cut through the oily, smokiness of the trout.
 
Warm your potato or other vegetable you are going to use.
 
Blanch the beans in hot salty water for 3 minutes and turn out into a bowl (they will continue to cook when out to al dente so don’t worry).
 
Break up the trout and mix all ingredients together in the bowl. The warmth of the cooked veg will warm the whole salad.
 
Call Mikala if she hasn’t been standing over you ‘picking’ as you cooked...

 

 

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