Fish and Fresh Fennel Tagine

You can't get any fresher than this. The dirt from my garden is still clumped to the fennel roots. The aniseed perfume is so much stronger than any supermarket bulb, left wilting on the shelves for who knows how long. The crunch as the knife slices through the crisp layers is almost deafening. The pleasure of eating something grown from scratch, and with a little love, is immeasurable.

Fish was on the menu last night and fennel and fish are a marriage made in heaven. This is yet another Moroccan inspired recipe which I adapted from my latest cookbook purchase, Moroccan Modern by Hassan M'Souli, a restaurateur from Sydney. I know I'm going to get my money's worth from this book, the recipes are just fabulous.

This dish is abundant with coriander and parsley. The tomato chermoula is so versatile in it's uses, as a marinade, or even as a sauce for pasta marinara, I think I will always make double the recipe from now on.


Pam, who cooks, sews and knits in her "spare time" from Sidewalk Shoes is kindly hosting Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging this week.

Fish tagine

Ingredients

• 4 x 2 inch thick firm fish fillets (try swordfish, dhufish, Ling or cod fillets)
• 2 cups of tomato chermoula (see recipe below)
• 1 large fennel bulb (the original recipe used celery sliced lengthways)
  
• 1 carrot
• 2 potatoes
• 1 small red capsicum
• 1 small green capsicum
• 2 tbsp of tomato paste
• 2 cups of fish stock
• A handful of kalamata olives
• 1 preserved lemon cut into wedges
• 4 roma tomatoes halved and roasted
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander

Method

Marinate your fish fillets in the tomato chermoula for at least two hours.

Slice the fennel (or celery) and place slices parallel across the tagine base. This stops food from sticking and burning to the bottom.

Next place the fish fillets over the fennel. Next slice the carrot diagonally in 1cm slices. Peel and slice the potatoes in the same fashion. Deseed and remove membranes from capsicums and slice the flesh to be double the thickness of the potatoes. The slices need to be varied accordingly so that they all cook in time.

Alternate the carrot & potato slices around the outer edge of the tagine and on top of the fish. Place the capsicums in alternating colours on top of the whole dish.

Mix the tomato chermoula with the tomato paste and fish stock and whisk until well combined. Pour over the vegetables and the fish, and top with olives and preserved lemon wedges.

Cover with tagine lid and simmer over a low heat for 45 minutes.

Serve the fish tagine directly to the table, garnished with tomatoes and sprinkle with fresh coriander.
Tomato Chermoula

Tomato Chermoula is a great accompaniment for seafood dishes.

Ingredients

• 1 tblsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• 2 brown onions diced
• 4 x 400g cans of crushed tomatoes
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander
• Salt & pepper

Method

Gently heat the oil in a saucepan and sauté the garlic and onion until soft. Add the tomatoes, cumin, and lemon juice. Simmer gently for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the fresh herbs and remove from heat. Season to taste. This can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Roast chicken, fennel, preserved lemons and olives

I've planted fennel in the garden for the first time this year, and boy do I wish I had planted a lot more. I just love it, roasted and caramelised, devouring every last morsel of it. Fennel can be a bit like coriander to some - you either love it or hate it. It's aniseed flavour marries perfectly with chicken, olives and my other favourite, preserved lemon.

This is a Maggie Beer recipe from her book Maggie's Harvest, and although it is in the Summer section of the book, this is such a comfort food in the winter as well. Fennel is an autumn vegetable and there is a male bulb and a female bulb. Round and bulbous, a female. Longer and thinner, a male. That's typical! I wonder what sex mine will turn out to be when I dig them up. Curvy, voluptuous females I hope!!

This dish is a weekly staple. It's quick, very little preparation is required and best of all it tastes fantastic.


Chicken pieces roasted with olives, preserved lemon and fennel

2 kg chicken thighs, skin on, trimmed of excess fat
2 preserved lemons, flesh removed, rinsed and cut into long strips
2-3 baby fennel bulbs cut into 1 cm slices
freshly ground black pepper
EEVO for cooking
24 black olives with pips (otherwise the flavour dissipates)
sea salt flakes
1-2 tblsp verjuice
freshly chopped flat leaf parsley

Marinate the chicken in a bowl with the fennel, preserved lemon, pepper and enough olive oil to coat the mixture. Leave for at least an hour for the flavours to meld.
Preheat oven to 220C. Divide the chicken and marinade between two roasting dishes, ensuring there is enough room for the chicken, so it doesn't overlap. Add the olives then season with salt.
Roast for 10-15 minutes then turn oven down to 180 C. Cook until chicken is golden, and juicy, but keeping an eye on the marinade to make sure it doesn't burn.
Remove from the oven, drizzle with verjuice and a tblsp of the best olive oil you can afford, and leave to rest, covered for 15 minutes. Just before serving, add the parsley and pan juices to moisten the chicken.

Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging this week is hosted by Maninas from Maninas:Food Matters.

Maninas hails from Croatia, a country that I would dearly love to visit one day. Take a look at her great site, as well as Postcards from Croatia. Just beautiful.

Beans 'n limes

And I don't mean Lima Beans. I actually mean beautiful flat beans with a herby lime sauce. These beans were advertised in the supermarket as "European beans". Sounds really fancy for a country bumpkin from Oz like me, but the fancy title also attracted a fancy price, at $9.99 per kilo...ouch. At least the limes have come down in price to $4.49 a kilo, instead of a ridiculous $1 each, which they were a while back, and let's face it, they're not quite the same size as a grapefruit are they? More like a Tom Bowler marble in fact.

The health benefits from the humble green bean are indeed extensive, noticably the high Vitamin K content, which contributes to healthy bones. Green beans are also an excellent source of vitamin C, and manganese. Plus green beans are a very good source of vitamin A (notably through their concentration of carotenoids including beta-carotene), dietary fiber, potassium, folate, and iron.The list goes on ......magnesium, thiamin, riboflavin, copper, calcium, phosphorous, protein, omega-3 fatty acids and niacin..phew. Do as your mothers often told you ..."eat your greens"!

As the summer herbs in my garden are nearing to an end, and mostly going to seed, I wanted to rescue the last few and use in this Saturday night dinner. There really isn't a set recipe, other than boil or steam the beans until tender crisp. Melt about a heaped tablespoon of butter in a pan, (depending upon how many beans you're cooking) add the grated rind of a couple of limes, along with their juice, cook gently for a minute or so, then flavour with garlic chives and parsley and a scant sprinkling of dried dill. I did add a sprig of winter savoury to the pot when boiling the beans as well. No salt, the herbs and lime add immense flavour to the often overcooked, soggy green bean.

They accompanied a crumbed chicken schnitzel and stuffed pontiac potatoes, also filled with chopped parsley, sundried tomatoes, spring onions and ricotta cheese, with a hint of homemade Sambal Oelek, a fresh chilli paste, which I'll post about later.


Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging attracts fantastic entries featuring herbs and fruits and vegetables every week, and Ramona from The Houndstooth Gourmet is the gracious host for this week.

Meet Mr. & Mrs. Tomato

I honestly don't know what was in the manure that I put into the vege garden this year, but most of my Roma tomatoes on one bush ended up shaped like this. Cute aren't they?


And as for the peppers! I forgot that I had purchased the miniature variety, let alone chocolate coloured. They were a real surprise.

Paad Thai - A noodle high

My girlfriend, M, and I often travel over to Western Australia, where she has 4 sisters and I have my brother to visit. I had the pleasure of staying with one of her sisters, along with her husband Nico Moretti, who runs a cooking school straight from their gourmet kitchen, overlooking their Bali inspired garden. I felt like I was at a resort, watching Nico prepare a platter of fresh fruit for breakfast to have with chocolate croissants and freshly squeezed orange juice. Nico has since written a cookbook, called Food for Friends, and of course I have a copy. The recipes are all very simple, not too fancy, but fancy enough to impress your audience.

I had made Paad Thai once before, but it was horrible. I’m obviously not a tofu person, sadly, and the recipe called for fried noodles. I may as well have served up a bag of rusty nails. It was disgusting. So I couldn’t wait to try Nico’s Paad Thai, as it had all of the authentic Thai ingredients (NO KETCHUP!) that I love – but minus the tofu. Please, if you can, find the tamarind puree. It's the magic ingredient in this dish.

There were many silent reservations when the family asked “what’s for dinner?”, because that first Paad Thai was indeed very memorable. After this version was presented, hopefully memories of that first ill-fated attempt at this wonderful Thai dish has been erased. Thanks Nico!

Zorra from Kochtopf is hosting Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging this week. This is Zorra's second time as a host for this event, and she has many other blog hosting events up her sleeve, with International Womens Day being her next inviting challenge.

Paad Thai

serves 6

CHICKEN AND NOODLES

1 x 375g packet rice stick (dried rice noodles), 5mm to 10mm thickness
250g finely sliced chicken breast (or sliced pork or peeled prawns)
2 fresh red chillies, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
11⁄2 tbsp ginger, finely chopped
1 stalk lemongrass, bottom 2-3 inches only, bruised and finely chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil

SEASONING MIXTURE

• 1⁄4 cup seedless tamarind purée (available fromAsian grocers)
• 1⁄4 cup warm water
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp palm sugar, grated or finely chopped
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 3 tbsp kecap manis (available from Asian grocers)
• 1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
(place the above ingredients into a screw top jar or bowl and shake or mix to combine)

1 packet lightly fried tofu, cut into 1⁄3 inch cubes
3-4 spring onions, sliced in half lengthwise and then cut into
1 inch pieces
3⁄4 cup chopped roasted peanuts
2 stalks coriander (roots removed), chopped

GARNISH

2 cups bean sprouts
1 red chilli, finely sliced
2 limes, cut into 10 to 12 wedges
1⁄4 cup fresh coriander leaves

Bring a large saucepan full of water to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the dried rice stick . Allow to soak for 8-12 minutes, depending on thickness, until tender. Drain in a colander and set aside. Heat the oil over a medium heat in a wok or large frypan. Add the garlic, ginger, lemongrass and chillies and stir-fry until golden and aromatic.
Add the chicken and stir-fry until cooked through. (If you also want to include prawns, stir-fry them for 3-4 minutes, until cooked, then set aside and keep warm. You can add them later, at the same time as the tofu and peanuts are tossed through.) Stir in the seasoning mixture and spring onions, bring to the boil and simmer for about 1 minute. Now add the noodles and stir through (gently, to prevent them from breaking) until they are coated with the chicken and seasoning. Finally, throw in the peanuts, tofu and coriander and stir-fry for a further 30 seconds. Remove from the heat, transfer to a serving dish (or leave in wok to serve) and sprinkle with additional peanuts and chilli. Surround the noodles with bean sprouts, place lime wedges on the side and serve immediately.

a-roy!

Rémy does ratatouille

I'd love to have Rémy living in my hair, just to guide me through some difficult culinary moments, but as I have a severe aversion to rodents of any sort, I'll have to rely on my favourite Australian "cook", Maggie Beer. If you haven't seen the movie Ratatouille, it's a must see for any foodie out there. I laughed, I nearly cried, but mostly I envied Linguine for having such a valuable teacher by his side. My kids thought I'd really lost it this time, watching a kids movie. But hey, I loved Shrek too, so no big deal.

Maggie's version of ratatouille is modeled on the traditional French style of slow cooking, until all of the vegetable flavours meld together until they have lost most of their shape, developing luscious juices. Served as a side with roast lamb (which I'm having tonight), it's Maggie's way of sitting down with friends to enjoy a summer evening, without having to rush around in the kitchen. Now that's my kind of Sunday night.

Ratatouille

3 eggplants cut into 3 cm cubes

Salt

½ cup olive oil

2 onions, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

3 red peppers, seeded and cut into cubes

6 small or 3 large zucchini, cut into 3 cm cubes

A few coriander seeds, crushed

4 large ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

Freshly ground black pepper

Freshly chopped parsley, or torn basil

METHOD

Place eggplant on a tray and lightly sprinkle with salt. Cover with foil and press lightly with weights for an hour. Wipe off moisture with a paper towel or clean tea towel, and drain juices.

Heat oil in an enamelled cast-iron casserole in which the finished dish can be served, and sauté onion until limp and golden. Add garlic, red pepper and eggplant, then cover the casserole and cook gently on stovetop for 40 minutes. Add zucchini, coriander seeds, tomato and a grinding of black pepper and cook for a further 20 minutes until vegetables are tender. Stir in parsley or basil and adjust seasoning. Serve either hot, warm or cold.

Kalyn, from Kalyn's Kitchen has nominated Rinku from Cooking in Westchester to be the host for this weekend's event.

Mon dieu, Écouter..Say no more

The new year brings....ZUCCHINI'S

Phew! What a hectic holiday break. And of course I never did get around to doing everything I wanted to, like culling my magazine collection, *cleaning out the pantry, having a weedless garden and learning to take photos on my new DSLR (thank you Santa!!). However, it was a great family time, even catching up with my brother, who "dropped in" unexpectedly from Western Australia, so lots of yarns, drinks, sightseeing, lunches, dinners etc were enjoyed. I haven't even cooked a meal for nearly a week! And whilst I've been out and about socializing, the zucchini's have been having a lovely time multiplying and multiplying and multiplying. I shouldn't complain though, as I expected them to do so in this 40 degree heatwave we've been enduring, but it's a sure fire way of making your neighbours avoid sticking their heads over the fence for a chat whilst you're harvesting zucchinis. They're strangely nowhere to be seen.

Fortunately there are bazillions of recipes in ways to use zucchini, but as I'm at the burnt out stage (read that as holiday lazy), a simple zucchini slice to send with my brother on his trip across the Nullaboor desert was all I could manage today.

The oils in my pantry ranged from EVOO through to advocado, herbed flavoured, peanut...but not one drop of vegetable oil. I did, however have a bottle of Carotino Oil , made from red palm and canola oil, lodged at the back of the shelf, which I forgot that I had (*that happens a lot with my pantry items). It's full of Omega 3 fats, lots of vitamins and is a beautiful colour. Just perfect to jazz up a plain old zucchini slice, and good for you too.

Zucchini Slice (from Delicious Magazine)

Ingredients (serves 15)

• 5 eggs
• 150g (1 cup) self-raising flour, sifted
• 375g zucchini, grated
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 200g rindless bacon, chopped
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 60ml (1/4 cup) vegetable oil - (or Carotino Oil)
  

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease and line a 30 x 20cm lamington pan.
2. Beat the eggs in a large bowl until combined. Add the flour and beat until smooth, then add zucchini, onion, bacon, cheese and oil and stir to combine. Pour into the prepared pan and bake in oven for 30 minutes or until cooked through.

Hopefully, Kalyn from Kalyn's Kitchen has utilised her well deserved rest better than I have, as she's launching and hosting the first Weekend Herb Blogging event for 2008. Her roundups are always a pleasure to read and enjoy.

WHB # 107 - Zucchini Loaf

This dish is great for parties, as it's an ideal finger food to pass around with drinks. The original recipe was quite bland, so I added a few touches of my own, such as garlic (quite a lot of it), grated cheese and bacon or eggs. It's pretty much a type of quiche, but in the shape of a loaf. I've even cooked it in a camp oven buried in coals, while we were camping on the Murray River. I certainly never "roughed" it whilst camping, and the neighbouring campers really appreciated an elegant nibble whilst socialising. Unfortunately, so did the flies.

My camping days are now over...nothing but a 5 star hotel for me now, but I do miss the challenge of cooking in a camp oven, from stews to roasts, even Murray Cod risotto, fresh from the water. We often wondered what the "poor people" were doing.

This is a great recipe to use up those abundant zucchini we always complain about in the summer time. It's not ideal to freeze, but I can't see why you couldn't freeze the grated zucchini cooked in the garlic and butter. I might try that this year, as I have foolishly planted 3 zucchini plants, and I'm the only one that eats it. However, when it's buried in eggs, cheese, cream and bacon, for some reason the family decided that they DO like zucchini after all. Go figure.

Ingredients:

1 kg zucchini, trimmed
salt
60 g butter or margarine
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
6 eggs
300 mls cream
6 rashers of bacon (or use ham)
2 cups grated tasty cheese
Thinly sliced red capsicum
Chervil (or parsley) sprigs

Method:

Coarsely grate the zucchini into fine wire strainer.
Add salt, mix through and let sit to drain for at least an hour.
Grease loaf tine or terrine and line base with greaseproof paper.
Strain zucchini and squeeze out all of the moisture (you'll be left with about a cup and a half of zucchini)
Melt the butter in a large frying pan. Add zucchini and garlic and saute gently until soft, about 10 minutes (don't let it brown). Cool.
Whisk eggs, cream and grated cheese together. Add zucchini and season with freshly cracked black pepper.
Pour into prepared tin, cover surface with baking paper.
Place tin in baking dish filled with hot water to reach halfway up the sides of the loaf pan
Bake loaf for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until set and firm.
Leave in tin for 10 minutes, then turn onto serving dish; cool and chill.
Garnish with red pepper strips and chervil, and serve with garlic melba toasts.


By adding the cheese, you get a beautiful golden crust on the top, which when served is actually the bottom....yummy.





Kalyn, from Kalyn's Kitchen, is the hostess with the mostest this week. I just wish I had half her energy sometimes, as well as her dedication and enthusiasm.

Lamb shanks with broad beans and avgolemono

Our spring weather is so unpredictable, with wild winds, snow falls, unfortunately very little rain this year, sunshine, and right now searing temperatures in the 30's. All of this in the one week mind you. It's such a dilemma to decide what to wear, let alone what to eat each day. Just when you think it's time for an outdoor dinner or lunch the weather can turn downright nasty.

Spring lamb is now at it's best, so I've chosen a Greek inspired dish accompanied with avgolemono, which is a fresh tasting sauce made from egg, lemon and broth. It is better known as an egg and lemon soup, if more broth is added. Either way, it's delicious, and is a great accompaniment to any roasted meats. I slow roasted the shanks in the covered BBQ, until the wind whipped up again and kept blowing the gas out. I hate this horrible wind...sniffle, sneeze.

Susan, from The Well Seasoned Cook is the host of this first event (for the THIRD year) of Weekend Herb Blogging. Kalyn must be totally exhausted after compiling last weeks round up celebrating the two year anniversary of Doubly Delish. I'm still ploughing through all of the delicious recipes.

Ingredients

4 lamb shanks (about 4 pounds total), cut crosswise into 1 1/2-inch -thick pieces by butcher
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup water
I kg broad beans, podded and peeled
1 large egg
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh dill

Preparation

Preheat oven to 275°F.

In a heavy casserole large enough to hold lamb shanks in one layer without crowding arrange shanks and season with salt and pepper. Roast shanks in middle of oven, covered tightly, 3 hours, or until tender. (Meat will give off juices as it cooks.) Pour off pan juices, reserving about 1 cup, and skim fat. Keep shanks warm, covered.

In a small saucepan combine broth, reserved pan juices, water, and one-third broad beans and simmer 5 minutes, or until beans are tender.

In a blender purée broth mixture until smooth.

In a bowl whisk together egg and lemon juice and whisk in puréed broth mixture. Return mixture to pan and heat over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until thickened slightly (do not boil). Season avgolemono with salt and pepper and keep warm.

In a large non-stick skillet heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté remaining broad beans until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in dill and salt and pepper to taste.

Arrange shanks on a deep platter and scatter with broad beans. Drizzle shanks with some avgolemono and serve remaining sauce separately. Serve shanks with orzo or mashed potato

WHB #104 - Asparagus Custard, Herbed Goats cheese and a Parmesan Wafer on top

Firstly, congratulations Kalyn for "inventing" and nurturing this wonderful event for the past two years. You must feel very proud. Head over to Kalyn's Kitchen for the round-up of this event, which I'm sure will be overwhelming.

The challenge for this weekend is to prepare a dish with at least one herb and one vegetable. As we are coming into the warmer weather here, asparagus is abundant, and it's also one of my favourite veges to eat. My herbs are starting to take hold in the garden, and I've planted some chervil this year for the first time.

In the time of King Louis XIV asparagus was dubbed ‘The King of Vegetables’, and in my opinion it still is. It is a member of the lily family, surprisingly, which has relatives such as onion, garlic, leeks, turnips, lilies and gladioli. It is a natural diuretic and laxative with a beneficial effect on the kidneys, liver and bowel. Specifically, asparagus is rich in vitamins C & E, folate, dietary fibre and potassium. It is also free of fat and cholesterol. (So just ignore the cream component in this recipe if you possibly can).


Ingredients
Olive oil
4 shallots, sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced or chopped
3 bunches asparagus, woody ends removed, sliced thinly
1 cup cream
Salt & pepper
2 eggs, beaten
200g grated parmesan cheese
Goat’s cheese
Cream
Freshly chopped herbs (I used chervil, parsley and garlic chives)

Method

1. Sweat off the sliced shallots and garlic in olive oil, taking care not to colour them.
2. Add the prepared asparagus and cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the cream, salt and pepper and cook until the asparagus is soft.
4. Using a food processor, puree the asparagus until smooth, then pass the mixture through a fine strainer to remove any fibres that haven’t broken down. Add the beaten eggs to the asparagus mixture.
5. Arrange 4 ramekin dishes in a baking dish with 1cm water. Divide the asparagus mixture between the ramekins. Cook in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.
6. Once cooked, allow the custards to cool slightly, then run a small knife around the inside of each ramekin and turn out onto a serving plate.
7. Combine the goat’s cheese with a little cream and freshly chopped herbs.
8. Sprinkle 50g of grated parmesan onto a baking tray in four circles and cook for 3-4 minutes at 180°C
9. Once cooled slightly, place a Parmesan Wafer on top of each asparagus custard. Finish with a spoonful of goat’s cheese mixture and serve warm.

Perfect for an al fresco lunch.

There was a young sprout from Brussels...

Polled as the most hated vegetable in the UK, the poor Brussels sprout seems to be as popular as a plate full of raw offal. Apologies to those who feel that raw offal is appealing.

I must admit, I've never craved these mutant cabbages. If they're served up to me I'll politely eat them, but I can honestly say they have never created a "taste sensation" worthy of remembering.

I'm not sure if it is the smell of them, the texture, or the bitter flavour that I've endured in the past that make these cute little fellas so offputting.

There is no way that I could even bribe, cajole, coax, or trick (sneakily poke one under the mashed potato) my family into eating them....eeeeewwww. I've managed to successfully serve steamed zucchini to my husband, after 25 years, without having to listen to the barrage of "why eat this stuff? It's tasteless", but when I showed him the packet of adorable baby sprouts, he emphatically "drew the line in the sand" and shouted "I'm not eating them". He was like a 3 year old, and it visibly upset him that I was going to force him to eat his sprouts. So after a 30 minute heated "discussion" on the foods he disliked when I married him which he now eats, the sprouts were sitting on the bench, developing an even bigger inferiority complex than they had before.

So it was Brussels sprouts for one that night.

This is my entry for this Weekend's Herb Blogging event #94, hosted this week by the creator, Kalyn, from Kalyn's Kitchen.

I wanted to keep the flavour simple, and not mask it with bacon, or onion or some type of sauce. To maintain the bright green colour of the sprouts, boil in plenty of water with the lid off, for no more than 8 minutes. This is due to the fact that the chlorophyll in the vegetables react with acids in the cooking water (remember the dull almost opaque sprouts we had to endure as kids?), so lots of water dilutes the acids, and leaving the lid off while boiling allows the acids to disperse.

I simply served mine drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and crumbled feta cheese. I am now a member of the ever increasing "sprout convertee" list. If only I could overcome my loathing for offal!

Cauliflower Au Gratin - Au so good

The humble cauliflower is either a love or hate vegetable. Whilst growing up, she wasn't my friend at all. She was dull, plain and boring, with no taste whatsoever. Over the years, however, she has learnt to accessorize, and bloomed into one of the prettiest flowers of all. My all time favourite is cauliflower au gratin, which is my entry in this Weekend's Herb Blogging event, hosted by Kalyn's Kitchen, the founder of this wonderful event.

Up until I tried this version last night, I always boiled the florets with sliced celery, placed them in a baking dish, covered it with a bechamel sauce, breadcrumbs and cheese and baked until the topping was golden. Nothing wrong with that version, simple, creamy comfort food. However, this version is the tarted up cauliflower that I always knew she could be....seductive and raunchy in fact.

6 tablespoons butter or margarine

4 ounces chopped, fully cooked ham (I used ham steaks)
1-2 cloves garlic minced
1 head cauliflower, broken into florets
2 tablespoons plain flour (all purpose flour)
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 pinch cayenne pepper

1 1/2 cups shredded tasty cheese (I used fresh parmesan)
2-3 tablespoons shredded parsley

Melt butter in a large skillet.
Saute ham and garlic for 2 minutes.
Add cauliflower and cook just until crisp tender, about 10 minutes.
Combine flour and cream until smooth; stir into skillet and blend well.
Add salt, pepper and cayenne.
Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat, cook and stir for 2 minutes.
Transfer to an ungreased baking dish.
Sprinkle with cheese.
Place under preheated broiler until lightly browned, about 2-4 minutes.
Sprinkle with parsley.
Serve immediately.

Mushy Madness

The 1st of June marks the start of Mushroom Mania here in Australia. This event is a food service campaign to help the restaurant and food industry sell more mushroom dishes. After much welcomed recent rain falls in this part of the our parched country, wild field mushrooms are in abundance here. I even have a regular crop growing on my front lawn, which up until 2 weeks ago, was a dust bowl.

Whilst my "crop" could be more abundant, I try and pick them before the slugs, worms and snails steal them. If you're wondering whether they are safe to eat, perform the scratch test. Scratch the skin and if there is any yellowing, reject it. You probably have picked Agaricus xanthodermus, which is commonly known as "yellow-stainer", and it is poisonous.

I have chosen a recipe from here, as my entry into Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week by Ellie from Kitchen Wench, which ends today, so I had better get my tail moving. (For someone that entered her first event only Thursday, I'm obsessed already!). As time is very limited, this recipe calls for ingredients I have growing here in my own backyard, apart from the mushies from the frontyard. Does this class me as an organic producer?

Sage that has survived the drought

Rocket which has come up from the dropped seeds only after the rain

BAKED SAGE AND BACON MUSHROOMS

Serves 4

12 small flat mushrooms

2 tbs olive oil

salt and ground black pepper to taste

8 thin rindless bacon rashers, finely chopped

2 tbs chopped fresh sage leaves

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs

1 cup freshly grated parmesan

baby rocket leaves to serve.

Preheat oven to 200 C (392 farenheit if you want to be exact). Line tray with baking paper

Brush both sides of mushrooms with oil & season with salt and pepper. Bake for 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook bacon in a medium frypan over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes, or until crisp. Add sage and breadcrumbs and cook, stirring often, for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan.

Remove mushrooms from oven and top evely with breadcrumb mixture. Return to oven and bake for 5 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Season with salt and pepper and serve with rocket leaves, drizzled with olive oil.

The verdict? Delicious, but try to get the meatiest flat mushrooms available. The topping overpowers the mushroom bite otherwise, but who am I to complain when they are a gift from nature?