We don't always eat hedonistic, calorie laden, sumptious meals in this house. Actually, we do try to eat quite healthily most of the time.



I was trying to think yesterday about how often I cook the same thing twice, and I do really from time to time, but on the whole, Todd is treated to something different most nights of the week. It might only be a salad, or a side dish, but it's something different.



Such is the life of a food blogger's husband.

Destined to be a guinea pig, and never allowed to eat . . .



until the photographs have been duly taken and noted.



He draws the line in restaurants, although I'll be honest here . . . I do embarass him from time to time.

It's all in the line of duty . . . I just knew you'd understand.



I made this fabulous fish dish the other night that was incredibly delicious. Yes, we do try to eat fish several times a week, and we try not to eat it fried. I usually grill or bake it. My mom always said that fish was brain food. I don't know if that's true or not . . . but, I do feel a bit smarter after eating it, from time to time . . .



*Baked Haddock with a Walnut Salsa Verde*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Any mild flavoured white fish can be used in this recipe, but we especially like it with Haddock. Tender and flaky fish with a delightfully tangy and nutty salsa. Delicious!

For the Salsa Verde:
60g of walnuts, toasted and chopped
2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
2 heaped tsp of nonpareille capers, finely chopped
40g of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
the grated zest and juice of one fat unwaxed lemon
2 Heaped TBS of extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

4 haddock fillets
paprika to dust
Bart's fish seasoning
olive oil to drizzle



Pre-heat the oven to 200*C/400*F. Lightly butter a baking dish. Place the haddock fillets in the dish and lightly dust with some paprika and the fish seasoning. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake in the heated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the thickeness of your fillets. Check halfway through the baking period. The fish is done when it flakes easily with the tines of a fork. Remove from the oven and keep warm.

To make the salsa verde, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl, seasoning to taste with sea salt and black pepper.

Serve the fish with some of the salsa verde spooned over top and the rest on the side so that people can help themselves to more if they wish. We like this with boiled new potatoes and haricots vert on the side.

Every cook who loves to entertain should have an easy little dessert recipe up their sleeve, that's, not only easy to execute, but also pretty failproof, delicious and impressive.



I make a lot of these up at the big house where I work. They entertain a lot up there, and to a high standard. This is one of their favourite desserts that I make and serve.



I like it because I can make it up several days ahead of time and then just put it quickly together on the day of the party.



You need to plan the baking carefully. If you leave them in the oven too long, they will not be melting in the middle, and they do start to solidify upon standing and cooling down, so serve them almost as soon as you take them out of the oven.

They're good the next day though, just fudgy and a bit more solid, not melting.



Up at the big house, they like them with a dusting of icing sugar and sitting in a pool of homemade raspberry coulis.

Myself . . . I just like them full stop, but a dollop of clotted cream is my preferred choice. Can you spell H E A V E N??? I thought so . . . well, now you can taste it.



*Melting Middle Chocolate Fondant Cakes*
Makes 10
Printable Recipe

These are tasty little chocolate treasures, with a gooey chocolate centre, just heavenly for any chocolate lover. You can accompany these with some fresh raspberry coulis, which is delicious, but for myself, I prefer them with a dollop of clotted cream, and why not? In for a penny, in for a pound! This is a very popular dessert for the dinner parties where I work. One great thing about it is that the batter can be made several days in advance and chilled, covered. Then on the day you just spoon it into the prepared ramekins and bake, easy peasy, lemon squeasy!

12 ounces good quality dark semisweet chocolate
8 ounces unsalted butter
1 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup plain flour
6 large eggs
To serve:
sifted icing sugar (optional)
clotted cream
vanilla ice cream
raspberry coulis



Place the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Cook and stir until melted and well combined. Set aside to cool. Place the sugar, flour and eggs in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat until it is very thick and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Fold in the melted chocolate mixture. (At this point you can cover it and place it in the refrigerator to chill. Proceed as follows when you are ready to bake them.

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Butter 10 individual ramekins very well. Divide the batter amongst them evenly. Place on a baking tray and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are just firm and the centre is loose. Remove from the oven immediately. (They firm up upon standing, so you want to pretty much serve them right away!) Dump them out onto individual serving plates and serve with your desired garnish.

One of the things that is both a pleasure and sometimes a pain in the month of August, is the inevitable glut of things in the garden. It seems that everything seems to ripen all at once and you spend days and hours searching for new and interesting ways to prepare them . . .

I mean . . . you can only make so many courgette loaves, before you are tired of them . . .



and only so many tomato tarts . . .



and just so many casseroles . . . Right now we are experiencing a tasty glut of lovely cherry tomatoes. I love tomatoes . . .



Especially cherry tomatoes . . . all that tasty ripe tomato goodness, concentrated into one tiny and delicious mouthful . . .

I could eat them like grapes . . .



and, I confess, I often do. I will have a huge bowl of them sitting on the counter, and within a few hours, I have whittled them away into half a bowl . . . ending up with nothing to show for it, but a smile on my face.

Ahh . . . summer . . . I hope it never ends, even though I know it must.



*A Salad of Cherry Tomatoes and Olives*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Sweet and tart with the flavours of delicious cherry tomatoes, black and green olives, herbs and delicious Balsamic vinegar . . . spring onions. Eat this with some crusty white bread on the side to mop up all those tasty juices.

40 or so cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup oil cured green olives, halved
1 cup oil cured black olives, halved
2 spring onions, chopped, green and white parts
3 ounces pine nuts, toasted
1 TBS good quality balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil, preferably greek
1 TBS dried oregano
1 TBS white sugar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place the tomatoes, olives and onions into a large bowl and mix together lightly with your hands. Whisk together the vinegar, olive oil, sugar and oregano. Season to taste with some salt and pepper. Pour over the tomato mixture, adding the toasted pinenuts. Toss together lightly, till all are coated with the dressing. Chill for at least an hour before serving to allow the juices to form and the flavours to meld.

 

I am truly a salad nut. I could eat salad seven nights a week and never tire of it . . . ever.

One of my favourite salad leaves to use, are the baby gems. I love them sliced into quarters and dressed with a simple vinaigrette, or a tasty blue cheese dressing . . . fabulous along with a scattering of sliced spring onion.



The little inner leaves make perfect little cups to hold a multitude of fillings, creating wonderful little hors oeuvres. I especially like a chicken caesar salad filling in them. With teeny weeny toasted croutons on top they can be a bit messy to eat, but oh so very fun to eat and quite popular with the guests where I work.



I think it's because baby gems have a lot of flavour. No salad wimps these. They have an assertive, almost bitter quality that lends itself perfectly to the salad.



I prepared a delicious green basil dressing to serve these lovely ones I picked up at the shops today. Slightly larger, they made the perfect salad, simply sliced in half, with some of the dressing drizzled over each half. Knive and fork salads . . . my favourite kind of all!



*Little Gems with a Creamy Basil Dressing*
Serves 6
printable recipe

I love this dressing. It has a beautiful colour and flavour. You can also use it on blanched vegetables such as broccoli and asparagus. It's very tasty!

1 cup good quality mayonnaise (I use Hellman's or French)
8 finely chopped spring onions, both the white and the green parts
1 cup of chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup of fresh flat leaf parsley leaves
the juice of two lemons
1 fat clove of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 cup creme fraiche
3 large heads of little gem lettuce, halved
a large hand full of cherry tomatoes, halved

Place the mayonnaise, spring onions, basil,parsley leaves, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper into your blender or the cup of a stick blender. Process and blend until smooth. Add the creme fraiche and pulse once or twice to combine. Cover and chill until you are ready to use it.

Cut each head of lettuce in half and arrange one half on each of six chilled salad plates. Scatter the tomatoe halves around and drizzle with some of the dressing. Serve. Pass any extra dressing at the table. This dressing will keep for several days, stored covered and in the refrigerator.

It sure has been hot here this past week . . . I think this is what they call the dog days of August. You know what I mean . . . hot and sticky . . . sapping your energy and making you feel lethargic and lazy.

Or at least that is the way it affects me. Thankfully though, it also cools down quite nicely in the evenings, so sleeping is not so bad or uncomfortable. If you've at least had a good night's sleep the muggy days are not so hard to take . . .



But you don't really want to put the oven on, or cook anything heavy . . .

Something light and refreshing is the rule of the day . . . something quick . . . easy . . . but always tasty.



I am a real lover of salads. Todd is not so much, but I always throw in a baked potato for him that I cook in the convection oven, so as not to heat up the kitchen. He's a meat and potatoes man and it's not a main meal for him unless there is a potato involved somewhere along the line.

This tasty salad with a baked potato on the side fits the bill perfectly for him . . . and he doesn't even complain that it's salad. There's cheese here . . . something else that he really likes.



*Herbed Chicken Salad*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Quick to make and low in fat, this is the perfect supper salad for a hot and humid summer's evening. We love eating this with bread sticks, but toasted pita breads go really well also.

For the Chicken:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBS fresh lemon juice

For the Salad:
8 cups chopped Cos lettuce
1/2 English Cucumber, peeled and cut into cubes
1 small punnet of baby plum tomatoes, cut in halves
a small handful of pitted kalamata olives, halved
2 ounces Feta cheese, crumbled

For the Dressing:
1 cup plain Greek Yoghurt
2 to 3 tsp tahini Isesame seed paste)
1/2 tsp garlic paste
1 to 2 TBS fresh lemon juice (depending on how tart you want the dressing)
salt and black pepper to taste



Mix the oregano, garlic powder, black pepper and salt together for the chicken. Heat a large skillet, which you have sprayed with low fat cooking spray, over medium high heat. Add the chicken pieces and sprinkle with the herb mixture. Saute until the chicken is cooked through and slightly browned. Drizzle with the lemon juice and remove from the heat.

Make the dressing by whisking together all the dressing ingredients. Set aside.

Divide the lettuce amongst 4 chilled salad plates. Divide the olives, tomatoes and cucumber evenly amongst them as well. Scatter 1/4th of the chicken mixture over each. Crumble the feta cheese over all. Place the dressing into a small pouring container, for each person to drizzle over their own salads. Serve immediately.

I've always found recipes, cooking and food very interesting. I've been collecting recipes since I was 7 or 8 and have always found the chemistry of it fascinating. I can be cooking a cake, for instance, and I will start to think and ask myself questions . . .


Questions like, who was the first person that put flour, eggs, fat and sugar together and came up with cake? And why? What inspired them to do so?



I have always found it amazing that, by combining just a few simple ingredients together, you can create something totally edible and wonderfully tasty. . . and that you can then take the same ingredients and put them together in a different way, using a different method and come up with something equally as delicious, but totally different!




For instance . . . you can put together a starch (bread), some cheese and sliced tomatoes, and then, with a bit of seasoning, you have a scrumptious cheese and tomato sandwich . . .

or . . .



change the starch to a pie crust and layer in the tomatoes and cheese, add a bit of onion and herbs, and some mayo . . .

and you have a deliciously moreish summer pie!



*Country Tomato Pie*
Serves 4-6
Printable Recipe

This is a really tasty supper dish, just perfect for these summer days when the tomatoes are ripening on the vine fastet than we can get them used up! I also make this in the winter, but I use tinned tomatoes then. I use one tin of chopped tomatoes, and I drain them really well, and then, I squeeze as much moisture out of them as I can.

2 to 3 large tomatoes
1 small bunch of spring onions, thinly sliced
1 TBS julliened fresh basil (roll several leaves into a cigar shape and cut crosswise)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 to 1 cup good quality mayonnaise (I like to use French Mayonnaise)
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 partially baked 9 inch wide, deep pie shell



Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. If you are using fresh tomatoes, peel. This can be very easily done by cutting a small x with a sharp knife on the bottom. Dip into boiling water and leave for 30 to 40 seconds. Remove from the boiling water and plunge into ice water. The skin should now easily slip right off.

Slice the tomatoes into thick slices. Place them in layers into the pastry shell, sprinkling each layer with some spring onions, basil, salt and pepper. Mix together the mayonnaise and the cheese. Spread this mixture over top of the tomatoes. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until the filling is nicely browned.

Remove and allow to sit for 10 minutes before cutting into slices to serve. Delicious!

I think by now you all know that plums hold a very special place in my affections.

They, quite simply are my favourite fruit, but only when they are in season . . . to buy them any other time of year simply doesn't do the fruit any justice, that is unless you are talking about French Pluots . . . those I could eat any time of the year, all ripe and sweet and juicy.



We do have lovely purple plum trees, right here on the Estate, just dripping with those purple-hued jewels, and begging to be made into jams, chutney's, cakes . . . tarts . . .



What could be better on a lazy warm summer Sunday afternoon, than a perfectly baked, rustic plum tart, served warm with lashings of extra thick spooning cream . . .



It doesn't get any better than this . . . ahhh . . . this is my bliss . . .


*Rustic Plum Tart*
Makes one 7 by 11 inch tart
Printable Recipe

I love anything rustic and fuss free. That's why I love this tart so much. Using purchased pastry and a few additional ingredients, you can have a delicious plum tart cooling, ready to be eaten in less than an hour. I love the marzipan that lies like a tasty secret underneath the plums. This will have them coming back for more.

1 package of ready rolled short crust pastry, all butter, thawed if frozen
3 TBS golden marzipan, cut into pieces
1 TBS plain flour
half a dozen or so purple plums, pitted and cut into thin wedges
2 tsp golden caster sugar
1 tsp granulated sugar
1/4 cup plum or red currant jam
2 TBS water



Pre-heat the oven to 190*C/375*F. Unroll your pastry and use it to line a 7 by 11 inch baking tin, allowing the excess to overhang. Sprinkle the bits of marzipan evenly over the bottom of the crust. Sprinkle with the flour. Arrange the sliced plums over top of the flour and marzipan, in overlapping rows. Sprinkle with the 2 tsp of sugar. Fold the overhang over the plums, creating a 1 inch free form ragged edge. Sprinkle the edges with the granulated sugar. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the fruit bubbles, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven to a wire rack to cool. In a small saucepan, combine the jam and water. Heat over medium heat until warm. Remove from the heat and pass through a sieve, discarding any solids. Brush the warm glaze over the plums in the tart. Allow to cool slightly, before cutting into slices to serve.