Summer Dining

The other night I went for an outdoors feast chez Sally & her family.  Sal & her brother had been busy in the kitchen preparing some side dishes to accompany the main event of a big baked fish for five hungry hedgehogs / humans.  The meal was incredibly good, simple, fresh & a perfect way to welcome in the warmer weather making its way (albeit a little tentatively this year) to Melbourne.

Not only was this an opportunity to eat well, it also served the purpose of teaching one of the Hayes' pals how to cook like a pro . . . 

The preparation of the fish dish was far simpler than the final flavours would suggest.  As long as you have an oven preheated to say, 150-190 degrees C (dependant on fan force being set or not), all there is to do is line your tray with baking paper; lay down the fish fillets; sprinkle with a healthy dose of sea salt, pepper, spices, fresh coriander/cilantro & thinly sliced lemon. 

The spice mix we used hailed from the range at Gewürzhaus - their Chermoula, to be precise, which hit the spot perfectly.

Cover the whole arrangement with foil & in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until fish is cooked through.  A slice into the centre of a fillet should give this away.

Serve with some fresh salad and/or roast veggies & you're away!  Just like these chickadees.

Accompanied by a gingham table cloth, tea light candles in recycled jars, & a lovely drop, one can safely say, "Welcome, Summertime" :-)

Some Summer Reading

The books I received at Christmas time . . . (The Night Circus I gifted to myself)

I cannot wait to really get stuck into them all.  I have started each of them but I seem to be a tandem book reader so I pick up a different one depending on my mood.

This can be both satisfying and detrimental to the actual reading the whole book.  I am loving all of them, though, so I've got a good feeling I'll finish what I started - I am not one to start a book and then wade my way through its pages if I am not enjoying myself.

And, admittedly, Edible Selby is probably more of a coffee table book as it is mostly beautiful pictures to drool over again and again.

Some other books started and not yet finished . . .

. . . (save for Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher).  

This series is ever-dependable and I am a sucker for a mystery novel.  

Not to boast but I finished the whole 27-book series of Emily Rodda's Teen Power Inc. in Grade 5 - snaps for me, right?

Now for some notes on each of these books:

• Colm Toibin writes beautifully.  I believe I could read any story and enjoy it if it was written by him.
• George Elliot's Middlemarch is one of my Dad's recommendations.  I trust his judgement and this is his own personal copy.  It's a bit of a hefty one (dense in meaning and pages and words, I feel) but when the time is right, I will continue on.  
• Phryne Fisher: Urn Burial.  Completed & a very satisfied customer.
• Tom Wolfe Radical Chic; well he is hilarious . . . at least the first few pages tells me so.  When I am looking into some greater insight into New York high society, Mr. Wolfe will be my first port of call.
• Geoff Dyer:  also hilarious.  Another recommendation from Dad who photographed page excerpts from Dyer's book when I was struggling to write an essay during a semester abroad. This was super helpful and it was nice to see that someone who has written several whole books also has times of distraction and restlessness.  Again, not finished.  But what can I say?  I'm distractable and restless.
• The Talented Mr Ripley: intriguing yet I just couldn't sympathise enough with the main character.
• Vintage book on loan from Grandma.  Wish I could recall the title & author but at present I've drawn a blank.  But this woman is very amusing and I love the story.  Aha!  LOVE IN A COLD CLIMATE. Written by Nancy Mitford.  I read this over the Winter & it was perfect for the pitter patter of rainy days and pottering.  Ahem (not finished) I'm trying to drag it out.
• Diane Acherman's A Natural History of the Senses.  Unfortunately, I haven't read enough of this book to comment other than the words and depictions are another experience reading-wise!  Ms Ackerman crafts a lovely balance between pondering and articulation.
• Just Kids by Patti Smith: dragging it out because I. Love. It.
• Simenon's La patience de Maigret is a detective novel which ordinarily I would have finished it in a heartbeat as I'm always keen to meet new detectives (in the fictional world).  Plus, great way to practise the French, right?  Right?  Well, to quote David Bryne, in this instance, "Im wicked and I'm lazy".
• Agatha Christie (Queen of Crime Fiction in my books (pardon the pun).  The Man in the Brown Suit is an op shop copy gifted to me by a friend.  Intriguing and once my other mysteries are solved I'll spend some time re-visiting Monsieur Poirot . . .

Some other collections I've got going - gosh I'm a fiend.  Maybe I am destined for a career in a boutique book, magazine and stationary shop / a newsagent's.

What other careers can be built around these collections . . . 

 

Happy reading xxx

Choc Frost

Hey there, it's been a while . . . 

I have no excuses other than it's Christmas time!  I am now on a bit of a hiatus from work at the moment.  Therefore, I can focus my mind on a post that's perfecto for those with a sweet tooth & who like making things from scratch.  I found this recipe and adapted it slightly based on ingredients I had to hand already.  It's super simple and if you want something toute de suite (!) it is a quick goody to whip up.

So, voilà:

  

Ingredients:

60g cacao butter

1/4 tsp vanilla extract/essence

1 tbsp raw coconut oil

2 tbsp raw macadamia nut butter

2 tbsp coconut nectar

1/3 cup raw cacao powder

1 cup frozen mango, chopped

1/3 cup blueberries (frozen works well for extra crunch)

1/3 cup raspberries (as above)

A small handful of hazelnuts

To start, melt your cacao butter with the vanilla and coconut oil in a bowl sitting in a bowl of boiled water.

Once melted as one, remove the bowl and whisk in macadamia butter, coconut nectar and cacao powder.

Next, line a baking dish or sturdy container with baking paper and spread your hazelnuts, mango & berries evenly across the dish.

Drizzle your molten chocolate over the top until there is but a film remaining in the mixing bowl for you to scoop up with your fingers - nom nom.  This will help ease the waiting period of the whole minute required for the chocolate to set in the freezer.

After about a minute in the freezer your banging choc-fruit mess should be ready to go.

You can prize it from its dish, peel back baking paper, slice off a chunk and tuck in.
This number goes particularly well with ice cream and pretty much any fruits can be substituted for the ones I've used and likewise for the nuts.  Enjoy ;)