The Accidental Recipe: 10 Minute Soy Glazed Salmon

pan fried salmon

Dearest Reader, do you ever come up with accidental recipes? When Mr NQN’s family lived nearby we used to invite them in after a day’s activity and I’d try and make something quickly based on what we had in the pantry or fridge. If it was just before grocery shopping day, then things would get tricky but a perverse part of me relished the challenge.

Sometimes things would work out, sometimes not and sometimes these “accidental recipes” have become part of our simple weeknight meal list. Ever since hearing about the benefits of eating salmon, I’ve consciously tried to include fish in our diet. I first made this recipe over 10 years ago for my sister. She had bought some salmon fillets on the way home from work and asked me to cook them for her. I decided to pan fry them as we both like a simple piece of fish grilled or pan fried. So I took out the frying pan, seared it skin side down and then flipped it over.

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March 23rd, 2012 by Not Quite Nigella

Interview with Peggy Porschen, The Queen of Baking & Decorating

peggy porschen

Peggy Porschen

In the cake world, and actually in my world too, there are few that are bigger than Peggy Porschen. She is the queen of cake  and cookie decorating, a woman that gets respectfully mobbed at cake shows by cake decorating enthusiasts around the world. With three successful books published on cake decorating, she has a fourth coming out in May. Peggy doesn’t follow trends, she starts cookie and cake trends and her incredible iced cookies were what started me onto my iced cookie obsession. And somehow she knows my blog? Oh my, how surreal a moment that was!

Peggy’s Fondant Fancies. Credit: Georgia Glynn Smith, for Peggy Porschen Cakes www.peggyporschen.com

When my friends Linda and Guy at Whimsical Cakehouse told me that German born and London based Peggy was on her way to Sydney and asked if I wanted to interview I stood up straight and said something quite incomprehensible but along the lines of “oh yes please!” And a couple of months later, there she was, showing people how to decorate a cake Peggy Porschen style with delicate lace imprints and airy light touches that you’d swear were painted on by gossamer winged fairies.

peggy porschen

She has three parts to her business set in fashionable Belgravia in London: the academy where students enrol in a one month course to gain a diploma, the parlour which is a feminine space where people can sit down and try some of her cakes and cookies. And lastly, there is the bespoke cake making business where she makes cakes for wedding and special celebrations – a recent order was for Kate Moss and Jamie Hince’s wedding cake. Her husband New Zealand born and Australian raised Bryn Morrow, runs the business side.

peggy porschen

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March 22nd, 2012 by Not Quite Nigella

Secret Chocolate Mousse

tofu chocolate mousse

So apparently I’m exasperating when I’m bored. So says Mr NQN and my attempts at doing nothing and trying to relax over the weekend have resulted in irritation and annoyance from Mr NQN. And you know those moments when you know that you’re being annoying but can’t help it or don’t care? Yes, that was me.

“Hiiiiiii. What are you doing?” I’d say to Mr NQN for the tenth time that day. He was sitting on the couch playing with the latest gadget.

“Fiiiine, just busy” he’d say eyeing me suspiciously lest this develop into an actual conversation.

I took the hint.

tofu chocolate mousse

I picked up my phone. Mr NQN’s trickstering has rubbed off on me and his mother Tuulikki had talked endlessly about Mr NQN’s niece Aura Lily and what a little genius she was. Apparently Aura Lily had sent her texts, called her at times, deleted things from her iPad which were well hidden and hard to find and was pretty much an almost functioning adult at 14 months. So Mr NQN and I started texting Tuulikki under the guise of Aura. Mr NQN had switched my contact details in Tuulikki’s phone to say “Aura” while she wasn’t paying attention which was surprisingly easy. I decided to model Aura on a mix of Jack Bauer, David Thorne and Lisbeth Salander, just because crime fighting hacker pranksters don’t necessarily have to be adults… ;)

Wherein ensured a series of text messages to Tuulikki…

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March 21st, 2012 by Not Quite Nigella

Claire’s Kitchen at Le Salon, Darlinghurst

claires kitchen le salon

Only the other day a friend said to me with a loud, dramatic sigh, “Nothing happens on Oxford Street anymore…” He was thinking back say 20 years where the hum of business and people used to make it a vibrant, buzzy place.

claires kitchen le salon

Today however, on this sunny Sydney day, there seems to be a lot happening on Oxford Street. And of course it happens when I’m running late to meet my friend Amanda at Le Salon. She had texted me a warning (or was it excitement?) that there were lots of firemen around and that Oxford Street was partially closed down. It turns out that there was a fire at a sex shop. Ahem…well who says nothing happens on Oxford Street? ;)

claires kitchen le salon

I walk past two topiary trees in pots and into the restaurant and Amanda is waiting for me at a table at the front of the restaurant sitting in a black velvet lounge chair that could seat two. That’s definitely the table to sit at if you want to people watch (or just fireman watch!). There are sexy booths out towards the back but these are darker and for those who seek less light.

claires kitchen le salon

The decor is lovely and easily covetable with vases of blossoms perched high on the wall, sparkling chandeliers, pressed tin walls and grand mirrors. And do you ever get this familiar feeling when you see something from your home in a restaurant? The F. Champenois poster in the dining room and on the back of the menu is just like the one framed in our apartment.

claires kitchen le salon

OK first things first-who is Claire? Well she or he is Claire de Lune aka French chef Marc Kuzma’s alter ego or drag name. He used to do the Kerri Anne Show and one day before Mardi Gras he thought to do the show in drag which was quite a hit with the viewers apparently (with some writing in not realising that it was a man in drag and suggesting that Claire de Lune and Marc do a cooking segment together – bless!).

claires kitchen le salon

Carre de saumon au coulis de pouvron rouge $25

At the waiter’s recommendation we choose our dishes. The carre or square of salmon is done confit style with a pink interior. It sits on a delectable red pepper coulis which is sweet with a hint of red pepper char and there are toasted white and black sesame seeds.

claires kitchen le salon

Steak tartare $24

I do love a good steak tartare and this comes deconstructed so that you can add your own condiments. There is the steak, finely diced with finely diced pickles, capers, chives, onion and French mustard with a raw egg yolk on top in its shell. The creamy egg yolk slips down between the crevasses of the diced steak and after a bit of mixing action and a dab of mustard and voila, we have steak tartare done just to our liking.

claires kitchen le salon

Poisson du jour $32

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March 20th, 2012 by Not Quite Nigella

Rainbow Cookies!

rainbow cookies

Last week Mr NQN spent a not so delightful 10 hours at the emergency ward of the Prince of Wales hospital. The poor thing had an accident on his bike on the way home from work and he came home with a gash on his face, abrasions and bruises. The gash was about a centimetre long and we thought that it required stitches (well I’ve never had them but it was bit, it was gushing and it was on his face so we guessed they were necessary).

So with haste I pulled on the nearest dress and a cape (fashion cape, not super hero ;) ) and we went straight to the hospital. When we flew into through the doors of the emergency department people stared (they’re bored I later realised) and I said to Mr NQN “Do I look weird?” “No, it’s probably the cape” he replied before adding “I’m glad you stopped wearing the fangs.” And I know, I know, it’s terrible that I stopped to pause and ask about my appearance when my beloved was bleeding and I’m sure I’m going into the bad wife hell for that.

In case anyone didn’t know, hospitals are depressing places and will test the patience of the most patient, that is Mr NQN. I left at his urging after a few hours and Mr NQN stayed for a lengthy 10 hours. We understood that as his injuries weren’t life threatening and as such, he was low on the priority list although other patients ran and one even skipped when they were called. We tried to find a medical centre but alas none nearby were open at night. At 3am Mr NQN finally lost patience and asked how much longer he would wait. They pretended that they had tried to call him, however he was sitting right in front of them. And the next morning when he should have been getting up for work, after waiting for over 10 hours the doctor gave him 10 minutes of his time, told him he was fine and that he wouldn’t put stitches in and then did a light examination and sent him home. And there was no lollipop given (I asked).

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March 19th, 2012 by Not Quite Nigella