I need to emphatically declare that there is nothing more refreshing on a sweltering hot day than this salad. Nor anything tastier or better for you. I always alter my recipe slightly from Nigella’s in that I use 2 Lebanese cucumbers in place of the white cabbage and I used 1 monster sized carrot. Cucumber, of course is known for being cooling and I feel this adds substantially to the recipe’s heat-beating properties. You can make this a few hours ahead and store in the fridge where it will be just perfect to eat when you are hungry.

I always double the quantities for the sauce and omit the oil. I don’t feel like the taste suffers one jot without it but more of this perfectly balanced sauce can only be a good thing.

Vietnamese chicken and mint salad

For the dressing (this is for double the amount of dressing than what Nigella suggests)

• 1-2 chili, preferably a bird’s eye chili, seeded and chopped finely
• 2 fat garlic gloves peeled and finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 teaspoons rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce

For the Salad

• 1 medium onion finely sliced
• 2 medium sized Lebanese cucumbers shredded grated
• 1 large carrot grated
• 200g cooked chicken breast, shredded or cut into fine strips
• fat bunch of mint, about 40g stemmed weight
• black pepper

1. In a bowl, combine the dressing ingredients and put aside for half an hour, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

2. In a big bowl, mix the salad ingredients. Pour over the chili flecked dressing and toss very well-so that everything is combined and covered. Taste to see whether you need salt or pepper. Serve on a flat plate with maybe a bit more mint chopped on top

Serves 2 as a main dish or 4 as a starter.

Recipe adapted from Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson

I attempted, in all seriousness, to replicate the way that Heston Blumenthal served up his Spaghetti Bolognaise in one of his books “In Search of Perfection” which involves twisting it around a large carving fork.

I bought some Motto pasta and the inner price checker in me said why would I choose a regular flavour when I could choose the saffron or porcini version? I mean who chooses vanilla when there is saffron or macadamia to choose from? One of my ex boyfriends faced with that very ice cream decision chose vanilla. I couldn’t believe that he would pass up all of the other 49 flavours to choose vanilla so I drilled him about it. He said that he crumbled in the face of such a decision and chose the simplest and safest and thus I linked it to a kind of performance anxiety. Which is precisely what I felt when I was trying to do a Heston Blumenthal with my pasta I suppose.

Thankfully the shape took place and held. The taste was one straight from heaven. The delicate crabmeat was never overwhelmed by the other ingredients and the light lemon flavour was the perfect for marriage for this divine seafood.

Crab with Saffron Linguine

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 400g fresh linguine (I used a 200g packet of Motto’s Saffron dried linguine)
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 400g raw crab meat
• 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• 1 tbs verjuice or white wine vinegar
• 2-3 tbs finely grated parmesan
• 250ml cream
• Salt & freshly ground pepper
• Chopped fresh parsley

Method

1. Cook linguine in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and keep warm.

2. Heat pan and add oil. Add crab meat and garlic, and cook for 3-4 mins until cooked but not browned.

3. Add lemon juice, verjuice or vinegar and the parmesan.

4. Pour in cream and reduce to sauce consistency. Add drained linguine to the sauce, season and serve topped with parsley.

5. To make the pasta shape as pictured, twirl pasta around large carving fork and lay horizontally against plate and carefully slide off fork.

Adapted from Fresh Living - May 2005 , Page 49
Recipe by Andre & Sandy Shannon (My Restaurant Rules) and presentation hint from Heston Blumenthal’s “In Search of Perfection”.

It’s no secret amongst my friends and family that I despise powdered mash. I’d rather go without than let that darken my plate. It’s not like mashed potatoes are hard to do either, you could even microwave the potatoes if you wanted. I know using Deb is easier but it’s also nastier and tastes like cardboard to me.

I got this recipe from Matthew Evans’ The Weekend Cook which I received in a gift bag from Greenwood Plaza. I had actually mistaken him, and constantly mistake him for the other chef Peter Evans on Fresh TV. Matthew Evans is SMH’s much feared food critic and we saw a little behind the scenes action on how the SMH Good Food Awards affect the restaurants on the ABC show -oops SBS show (thanks Jobe!) Heat in the Kitchen (unfortunately I missed 2 episodes so if anyone has these or knows where I can get them….).

I didn’t know what to expect from his cookbook but flicking through it, I particularly liked the styling in it and the dishes and accessories-turns out they are not shop bought but rather from personal collections although I did recognise one Limoges cup and saucer set from the shops. Upon closer scrutiny, quite a few of the recipes appealed to me, the one for homemade crumpets I am saving until it gets a little colder and/or I have more time on my hands. This one was my other favourite, not only because my husband adores mashed potato but because I adore it too. As long as it’s not Deb of course.

The L’aligot is incredibly rich, my husband who can normally wolf down a bowl of mash could only get halfway through his portion. Indeed, you could reduce the amount of cheese in this if it is too rich or just serve it as an elegant quenelle shaped portion next to a fabulous steak. If anything the method including the proportions of milk, butter and steamed garlic are perfect for making a buttery smooth mash so you could leave out the cheese altogether and just have it as the perfect smooth mash.

L’aligot

Serves 6

• 1kg starchy potatoes, peeled
• 2-3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 375ml (1 1/2 cups) milk
• 150g butter
• 300g provolone or other mild melting cheese, grated

Cooking time: 25 minutes
1. Steam the potato with the garlic cloves. When the potatoes are cooked as soft as goose down right through, mash them, with the garlic as finely as possible (I used my potato ricer with the finest sieve insert).

2. Put the milk in a large heavy based saucepan and bring to the boil. Vigorously beat in the potato a spoonful at a time with the butter. Turn down the heat and beat until potato is light and fluffy. You can use a hand mixer to do this if it’s strong enough, or plop into the Kitchenaid.

3. Sprinkle in the cheese, beating the whole time. The mixture will take on a gloss and come away from the side of the pan as you beat it. It is then that it should be eaten or left ready to reheat and be eaten.

4. Serve with just steamed veg, or if you’ve got the constitution, with oven crisped duck confit, pan fried Toulouse sausage or some braised smoked ham hock. If there are any leftovers, they’re best pan fried.

From The Weekend Cook by Matthew Evans

This has got the be one of the easiest but most gratifying dishes from Nigella Express. With a sum cooking time of 3 minutes (ok you could add on 2-3 minutes for getting the mixture to a boil) it will make a seafood chef out of the most reluctant cook.

I don’t want to mislead though, there is some time necessary for preparing the mussels. Firstly I rinsed them several times in clean cold water and debearding them and removing the barnacles was something that I found oddly therapeutic. I didn’t “knock them off” as Nigella said with the back of a short sharp knife as the barnacles were more flat than raised, rather I scraped the shells with a short sharp knife which seemed to do the job.

As I used spanish onions, I started off by sauteeing them lightly in butter and oil along with the garlic and then added the curry powder before adding in the white wine and bringing that to a boil. After that I added the mussels and it was 3 minutes with a bit of pot shaking (also therapeutic, simply imagine you were throttling or shaking about an annoying colleague) and it was done. And if you’re more organised than me, have some gorgeously crunchy Sourdough at the ready to mop up the briney, fragrant soup.

I leave you with a photograph of a kookaburra on our balcony, taken by my husband. Perhaps it was lured by the sweet smell of the Mouclade!

Mouclade from Nigella Express

• 2kg mussels
• 4 baby leeks (or spring onions) finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled nad finely sliced
• 500ml white wine (or 250ml Noilly Pratt and 250ml water)
• 2 teaspoons Madras curry powder
• 125ml double cream

1. Soak the mussels in some clean, cold water and -if they haven’t been dealt with in the shop-sort through them, debearding and knocking off any barnacles with the back of a small knife

2. Take a large pan with a lid. Add the sliced baby leeks, sliced garlic, white wine and curry powder, bring to the boil.

3. Tip the mussels into a colander, discarding any that haven’t closed and tumble the rest into the pan, clamp on the lid and cook on a high heat for about 3 minutes. Shake the pan around as they are cooking.

4. When you lift the lid, the mussels should have fully opened. Discard any that haven’t. Add the double cream, and then turn into a bowl to serve, or take the pan straight to the table. Remember to put out a bowl for the shells.

Serves 4

Recipe by Nigella Lawson from Nigella Express

Paul’s Bocconcini, tomato and garlic pizza

I need to go to Kitchenaid’s Anonymous. I am addicted to it. Anything that makes me life easier and I mean the stuff that really makes it easier I am a fan of. I used to have to ask my husband to knead pizza dough as I am pathetically weak armed and he would dutifully roll up his sleeves and knead away but I like the freedom of making dough without the help of another human. To do this I use Kitchenaid’s dough hook feature. Its like having a driver’s license as opposed to asking for a lift from someone. An irony as I don’t have my driver’s license yet. I plan on being the 80 year old weaving down the road with an L plate strapped to her back license plate.

Anneli’s Gourmet Vegetarian pizza

So for a Pizza party, I hardly need to do any work. I am just making up the bases for the pizzas and our contribution is a pepperoni BBQ pizza (using the BBQ sauce I had made previously) and a pumpkin and satay pizza. We’ve said to our guests that they can bring any topping they like and we’ll put it on the bases and as our guests are vegetarian, Anneli has chosen to bring gourmet vegetarian toppings: fetta, grilled zucchini, grilled capsicum and cherry tomatoes and A&D bring sun dried tomatoes, marinated artichokes and TVP for a mexican “beef” mince pizza slathered with sour cream and Jalapeños. Paul has brought some Bocconcini, fresh tomato and zucchini and the Assman has brought fruit and juice-the fruit to have as a fondue and the juice, well to drink of course…

Butterscotch and mocha fondue with fresh strawberries, banana and marshmallows

And of course since its our party, there’s no party without dessert and cocktails. I’ve still got some Butterscotch and Chocolate sauce from the Ice Cream Cake so we’re having a Butterscotch and Chocolate fondue with strawberries, banana and marshmallows and to drink, a cocktail I’ve called Celestial Navigation (Christmas pudding vodka and lemonade).

Pizza toppings

You’ll find a great Pizza recipe here which will make 2 large pizzas. Double the recipe if you are having a pizza party and roll the dough ready for your guests to top their pizzas. We placed them on a large sheet of baking paper to make them easier to slide onto the oven trays. And speaking of oven trays, the way to produce the nicest crispiest crust is with a pizza stone but if you don’t have one, place your oven tray in the oven while it is pre-heating and just before you’re ready to cook it, slide your pizza onto the very hot oven tray. I find transportation via a large sheet of baking paper easiest to do that where I just lift the whole sheet of baking paper onto the hot tray and slide it in the oven.

Also have plenty of chopped fresh garlic (2 cloves of garlic per pizza) and onion (1/2 onion per pizza), tomato pizza sauce and grated cheese at the ready. Spread the base with pizza sauce and scatter the garlic and onion slices over. All that you have to do now is assemble whatever you’d like for your toppings! After the toppings we scattered cheese on top and baked the pizzas in a 200C oven for 15-20 minutes.

A&D’s Artichoke, Bocconcini and sun dried tomato pizza

Pepperoni Pizza

• 150grams pepperoni
• Use BBQ sauce instead of tomato sauce

1. Top pizza with BBQ sauce garlic, onion and pepperoni and cheese

2. Bake in 220c oven for 15-20 minutes

Pepperoni pizza

Mexican “Beef” pizza (Vegetarian)

For Mexican “beef”

• Oil for frying
• 1/2 spanish onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 1/2 cups Water
• 2 cups of dried TVP
• 2 teaspoons of Vegetable stock powder
• 1x Sachet taco seasoning
• 1/2 cup Tomato paste

For rest of the pizza

• Sweet chili sauce to drizzle
• Guacamole (optional)
• Sour cream
• 2 x sliced Jalapeño chilis

1. In a small saucepan fry diced onion in oil until soft, then add TVP and water and let TVP rehydrate. Add stock powder and taco seasoning to taste (you may not need the whole packet) and ensure that water is absorbed and TVP is cooked (not too hard, it should be of a mince like texture, if it is still hard keep adding water gradually until correct texture is reached). I’ve found that it takes between 5-10 minutes to fully hydrate depending on the TVP. Set aside

2. Top pizza with tomato pizza sauce garlic, onion, Mexican beef and Jalapeño chilis (our store was out!)

3. Bake for 20 mins and when done remove from oven and top with sour cream and avocado and drizzle with sweet chili sauce.

Mexican “beef” pizza

Pumpkin satay pizza

• 1 cup roasted pumpkin chunks (cooked not raw)
• 1/4 cup satay sauce

1. Top pizza with tomato sauce garlic, onion, pumpkin and cheese.

2. Bake in 220c oven for 20 mins and when done drizzle satay sauce over.

Pumpkin satay pizza

Anneli’s Gourmet vegetarian pizza

• Grilled zucchini
• Grilled capsicum
• Cherry tomatoes, halved
• Feta cheese crumbled
• Fresh basil, oregano and parsley

1. Top pizza with tomato sauce garlic, onion and above toppings.

2. Bake in 210c oven for 15-20 mins

Anneli’s pizza pre oven

A&D’s Gourmet vegetarian pizza #2

• Marinated artichokes
• Sun dried tomatoes
• Bocconcini cheese, halved
• Fresh basil and oregano

1. Top pizza with tomato sauce garlic, onion, cheese and above toppings.

2. Bake in 220c oven for 20 mins

A&D’s pizza pre oven

Paul’s Bocconcini, tomato and garlic vegetarian pizza #3

• Bocconcini cheese, halved
• Fresh tomato
• Fresh basil and oregano
• Extra garlic

1. Top pizza with tomato sauce garlic, onion, cheese and above toppings.

2. Bake in 220c oven for 20 mins.

Paul’s Bocconcini, tomato and garlic pizza

Celestial Navigation cocktail

• 1 part Christmas pudding vodka
• 4 parts Lemonade, cold as ice

1. Pour ice cold lemonade into glasses, add Christmas pudding vodka

2. Relax, you’ll feel as though you’ve reached heaven

Chocolate and butterscotch Fondue with strawberries, banana and marshmallows

• Chocolate and Butterscotch sauce recipes here (scroll down to IceCream Cake recipe)
• Strawberries washed
• Bananas sliced diagonally
• Marshmallows
• Forks or skewers

1. You don’t really need a fondue pot for these to keep them warm. Just heat sauces til liquid and pour into cups and let everyone help themselves. It helps it you have plates to catch the drips!