winosandfoodies

The Birthdays Week

Bryan and I almost share our birthdays. His is the 15th and mine is the 16th. As from the 15th July 2008 his age will end in a zero. Once you get past 21 any birthday with a zero means a party. My age will not contain a zero for another couple of years. We may need that time to recover from the next two weeks.

We have friends and family flying in from France, New Zealand and Lindeman Island. All on different days, different airports and different times.

Bryan and I kick off the celebrations with a dinner on Monday 7th at Restaurant Two in Brisbane. We need to be at Brisbane airport by 7AM on Tuesday morning to meet the crew from France. I t seemed a good idea to stay in Brisbane, rather than get up really early and drive up from the coast. The 7th just happened to be the  Vogue E & T 2008 Champagne dinner. Nice coincidence don't you think.

Everyday that week someone will arrive and by Friday everyone will be here and the partying proper begins.And by the 18th of the following week they will have all gone home.

The main event will be held at Bumbles restaurant on the Saturday night. They don't open in the evenings so we will have the restaurant to ourselves, with Kate cooking  exclusively for us. The menu has been chosen and guests will have a choice for their entree and dessert. For the main we decided to have a selection of dishes on the table and everyone  helps themselves...as you would at home.

Some days are planned and some days we will wing it and go with the mood. I won't be blogging for a couple of weeks although I'll be dropping into Twitter so I don't miss everyone.

Vanilla Beans

I found local vanilla beans. Earlier this year when we spent a weeks holiday in Port Douglas I saw big bunches of locally grown vanilla beans in the fruit shop. The heaviest rains in 70 years prevented me from getting through the flooded streets to buy some on my last day. A bit of googling when I arrived home and I found the grower....and they sell online. So I placed my order and I now have two big bundles of vanilla beans in my pantry. After placing a bean in all my sugars, vanilla flavoured olive oil was first on my to do list. It is made and sitting in a cool spot waiting to be used. I have no idea what I will use it for. I like Garrett's  vanilla olive oil ice cream.  Anyone have any suggestions?

A Few Things From My Week

Watercress Soup for lunch in my lovely yellow Italian mugs a gift from Chris at Mel Cotte.

These mugs are a favourite in my house. They hold just the right amount of soup to enjoy with our lunch time sandwiches. Then when the cool air closes in at night we cup our hands around them as we warm up with a hot chocolate.

This beautiful bracelet  was made by Giz at Equal Opportunity Kitchen. She names all her bracelets and she named this one Barbara...... and sent it to me as a gift. Isn't it pretty? Thank you Gis. Whenever I wear it I think of you.  Food bloggers are the nicest bunch of people in the world.

.....and some of my favourite blog reading this week.

David's adventures in the South of France.
Mysterious Gifts Of Memory from Jennifer.
More pretty pictures from Maryam.
Missoni fabric at Melanies.

Enjoy your weekend.

Murray River Pink Salt

I love Murray River Salt....and they aren't paying me to say that. It's a pretty pale pink colour.

Tea Eggs

Tea eggs are a savoury snack found throughout Chinese communities. Which explains why my house currently smells like the aromas I remember from the restaurant area of Kowloon.

They are surprisingly easy to make and rather nice to eat. The eggs are boiled briefly to harden the shells, then cracked all over and simmered in water flavoured with soy sauce, black tea and spices.

Tea Eggs

6 eggs at room temperature
2 tablespoons black tea leaves
5 tablespoons say sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon Five Spice powder

Place eggs into cold water and bring to the boil. Boil 10 ten minutes.
Remove from stove and remove eggs from water.
Refill pot with fresh cold water and add tea, soy sauce, salt sugar, spice.
With the back of a spoon crack eggs all over and return to pot.
Bring pot to boil and simmer for three hours
Remove eggs from water, allow to cool, remove shells and serve with salt. I served mine with a spiced salt.

Who else has made  Tea Eggs
Nook and Pantry
Umami
Just Bento
Figs With Bri

Tiramisu, Cupcakes,Peacocks and Cabbage - Highlights Of My Week

Thank you FX Cuisine for this idea, although mine doesn't contain rhubarb and I used a dry Marsala for an alcohol hit. It was brilliant.
Banana Nutella Muffins. Always a favourite from Delicious Days and * my * usual * cupcake *  base.

This bird has nothing to do with cabbages I just like the shot.I'm addicted to this salad I found over at Stone Soup. Thanks Jules, I'm enjoying your beetroot salad also.

Maryam is taking bookings. If you are headed to Morocco you really must stay at Peacock Pavilions.

Tomato Tart

Tomato Tart is one of those easy dishes that can be made even easier by using a shop bought shortcrust pastry. I make my own pastry with a shortcrust recipe from Stephanie Alexander's book The Cook's Companion. For the filling use quality ingredients like the best cherry tomatoes you can find, Maille mustard, good olive oil,  Maldon salt,  and freshly ground pepper.

It was only after I put the tart in the oven, I googled tomato tarts to see how long they should be cooked, when I discovered most recipes blind bake the pastry shell before adding the topping. I didn't and the  tart was perfectly okay.

Filling
2 punnets of cherry tomatoes, cut  into halves
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Olive oil
Flaked salt and freshly ground pepper

Pastry
240 grams plain flour
pinch of salt
180 grams unsalted butter
3 tablespoons water

Sift flour and salt onto the work bench
Chop butter into small cubes and rub into flour
Make a well in the centre of the flour and add water
Use a pastry scraper to blend ingredients into rough lumps
Gather together to form into a ball, dust with flour, flatten to a disc and wrap in cling film
Place in fridge about 20 minutes

Remove pastry from fridge, roll out and line tart pan with a removable base
Spread mustard over base of pastry
Top with halved cherry tomatoes
Sprinkle with salt and pepper and  drizzle with a little olive oil

Bake at 200 degrees about 30 minutes or until pastry is browned and tomatoes have caramlised.

Spiced Salt For Bri

Earlier this year we dined at Harrisons in Port Douglas.On each table was placed a sweet little mortar and pestle containing a spiced salt. I've been intending to make my own spiced salts ever since.

 

Last week Jaden at Steamy Kitchen did a post on Asian flavoured salts. It was enough to kick me into action and make some spiced salts for our table.

I wanted to find a way to get more of the cancer fighting food turmeric into my diet. I also wanted to support the initative of  Jugalbandi  and their photographic CLICK  event in support of  Figs With Bri. Bri is currently undergoing treatment for cancer. Bee and Jai at Jugalbandi have organised a fund raiser to help Bri and her family with medical expenses. They chose the colour yellow for the photography event as it is the colour associated with cancer.  Remember LiveSTRONG Day and the fabulous array of yellow food.

I chose a traffic light set for our  table.

Red - Maldon salt and sweet hot paprika
Green - Maldon salt and matcha powder
Yellow - Maldon salt andturmeric powder

Visit Jaden for spiced salt ideas.

....and help Bri by entering your own yellow food photo.

Pink Muscat From Margaret River

I don't drink a lot of wine these days. It makes me sleepy. I'm not sure if that's my age or the result of the effects of my past sessions of chemo on my body.  So I have two choices - go for quality  - and that costs -  so naturally I'll drink less. Or look for a low alcohol wine.

Which is what I  like about Stella Bella Pink Muscat. It is only 7.7%. I can drink more than one glass and I can drink it with lunch and not spend the afternoon on the couch sleeping it off. It's pink, slightly sweet, slightly fizzy and very easy to drink. I drank it with a lunch of  Tortilla Espanola and Rocket Salad with Blue Cheese and Pears.

Recently I received a wonderful parcel of goodies from the charming  Chris at Mele Cotte. Amongst the carefully chosen pieces of yellow china and sweets was a packet of California Wine Wafers. If you haven't tried these yet you must. They look like a giant communion wafer.  If only communion wafers tasted this good! Chris had sent me the lemon vanilla flavoured wafers. I tried them alongside the pink muscat. Being sweeter than the wine the wine tasted less sweet.


Stella Bella Pink Muscat 2005
Grape Varietal: Muscat Blanc A Petits Grain
Price: Around AU$19 for 375ml.
Warning: Men are unlikely to enjoy this wine.

Shout Out For Bri

I only recently came across the blog Figs With Bri. For those of you who don't know Bri she is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Bri's Mom died of breast cancer so I can understand why Bri is fighting so hard to beat her own cancer.

The lovely Bee and Jai at Jugalbandi are holding a special edition of the CLICK photo event to support Bri's fund raising efforts. Read Bri's story and how you can help here.  Please help if you can.

Let's get together and make the June edition of  CLICK the greatest blog photo event ever.

Tortilla Espanola From Spain And The World Table

I love this book,  Spain and The World Table  from the Culinary Institute of America. It isn't a book for the novice cook.  I doubt I'll cook  from it very much - like using 18 egg yolks for Crema Catalana.  And there are things in I don't approve of - like Sushi Paella or Red Wine Sushi Rice. And there are things in there I love - like Paella Valencia or Mission Fig Flan. And recipes using salt cod -  if I can find salt cod in Australia.

Every spare moment this week I've found myself curling up on the couch a cup of coffee in one hand the book in the other. From the gorgeous looking Shrimp in Garlic on the cover to the final recipe on the last page for Crema Catalana, I imagine I'm back in Spain.

During our 6 weeks in Spain in 2004 we ate a lot of Tortilla Espanola and Creme Catalana. Every bar offered tortilla and every menu del dia featured flan . So I'm a pretty good judge of Tortilla Espanola. I make it often, sometimes following a recipe, sometimes winging it with whatever is in the fridge and how much time I have. With this one I followed the recipe but substituted  some ingredients with what I had available.

Here is the original recipe.

TORTILLA ESPANOLA

900G (2 lbs) Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 3/4 teasp salt, divided use
1/2 cup, plus 2 tablesp extra virgin olive oil, divided use
1 cup chopped yellow onions
1/3 cup chopped red bell peppers
1/3 cup chopped green peppers
1/2 cup diced choriizo sausage
1 cup diced Serrano ha
10 large eggs

Toss together the sliced potatoes and 1 teasp salt in  a medium bowl.
Heat 1/2 cup olive oil in a large heavy non stick or well seasoned cast iron skillet over medium heat and add the potatoes.
Cook stirring occasionally, until the potatoes start to soften but not brown, about 5 minutes.
Add the onions, peppers, sausage, and ham.
Continue to cook, stirring often, until the potatoes are tender, the chorizo cooked through, and the ingredients well blended, another 5 to 10 minutes.
Transfer the potato and onion mixture to a colander placed over a large bowl and drain.
Clean the pan.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl until smooth, then stir in the potato mixture.
Season with 3/4 teasp salt.
Return the pan to medium heat and add 2 tablesp of olive oil.
When the oil is very hot, add the egg mixture to the pan.
Tilt the pan so that the eggs run over the bottom of the pan in an even layer, then turn the heat to low.
Cook, shaking the pan from time to time until the omelet has set, about 8 minutes.
Cover the pan with an omelet turner or flat bottomed pot lid. Then carefully slide the inverted omelet back into the pan.
Return to the heat and cook the other side until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
Slide the omelet out onto a plate.
Allow to cool to room temperature, cut into 8 wedges  to serve.

I did things a little different with the ingredients I had on hand. I used red onions; green peppers only, no red; salami in place of the  chorizo and Serrano ham. Real Serrano ham is so expensive here I'd never put it in a tortilla. I'd rather just eat it on its own. I didn't bother with turning the omelet over, instead I placed it under the grill to set the top.

It was excellent. Everyone loved it.

For a more academic review of the book visit this blog.

I received Spain And The World Table as gift from DK Publishing.

Thank You To The Daring Bakers

What a wonderful surprise when the Daring Bakers May posts started appearing on the web today.  In support of LiveSTRONG With A Taste Of Yellow the Daring Bakers had been encouraged to decorate their fabulous Opera cakes in pastel colours. If you check the Daring Bakers blogroll you will see their fabulous  cakes.

Thank you for this kind and thoughtful act. It really made my day. I am a little overwhelmed with your lovely words. I feel very blessed to be a part of the caring and loving group of people that make up the  food and wine blogging community. You are all very special. Thank you Darling Daring Bakers.

A special thank you to the originators of the Daring Bakers, Ivonne and Lisa. I very much appreciate your support.

LiveSTRONG With A Taste Of Yellow is over for another year. Thank you to everyone who participated. It is because of you it was so successful. Thank you to those who shared their stories. I hope you found comfort in reading how others are coping. To the lucky ones not touched by cancer thank you for your support. With so many blog events available I appreciate your finding the time to participate and  support  LiveSTRONG Day in the blogging community.

If you haven't already seen the round up you will find it here:

LiveSTRONG With A Taste Of Yellow Part 1 and Part 2.