Foodie Friends II

Last Saturday night was a big one.  A big one in terms of lovely company, delicious food, a great film & lots of laughs.  

Zoë offered to whip us up some dinner before we made an excursion to the cinema to see About Time, which turned out to be a gem of a film.  

Having lived in Italy for a time, Zoë is a bit of a master chef in the way of pasta dishes.  Her mushroom spaghetti is simple yet oh so delicious & in true Italian style, Zoë keeps the ingredient lineup to a minimum, allowing the natural flavours to speak for themselves.  The pasta, cooked to perfection, caps off the whole ensemble texture-wise, its form in tact as its mild aroma allows the buttery-sweet notes of the mushrooms to rest on your palate.  Di-vine.

Begin by prepping your ingredients:

A generous amount of garlic, finely chopped
Big pinch of dried chilli flakes
Extra virgin olive oil
Mushrooms, chopped as large or as small as you like
Pot of boiling water
Pasta of your choosing (Zo goes for spaghetti in this instance)
Finely chopped parsley for a final garnish
Grated cheese (Parmesan is always a winner but my newest love combination is Tasty / Cheddar)

While you have your water on the stove heating, toss the the garlic, chilli flakes & oil into a large fry pan to sizzle.  When the garlic is golden & aromatic, add the chopped mushies & stir altogether.
Mushrooms softened, allow them to rest on a low heat, giving the flavours opportunity to mingle & caramelise.
Meanwhile, add a pinch or two of salt to the boiling water, followed by your pasta, & allow to cook for as long as directed.

When the pasta is al dente, drain the water & mix the moistened threads through the mushrooms.  Keeping the heat on, drizzle a healthy glug of olive oil over & stir until deliciously combined.

Scoop it into bowls, garnish with as much cheese & parsley as you see fit & you know the drill after this . . . 

. . . Take a photo of an old-fashioned teapot & an indoor plant . . .

Once you're all fed & feeling fine, you can do whatever you choose.  Zoe & I frolicked amongst the neighbourhood flower vines on our way to the cinema.  As it's racing season in Melbourne, we thought these made adequate flower crowns for fascinators.  Floating fascinators, granted, but you get the gist . . .

Follow all this by a good rom com & a choc top for dessert, & I'm a happy chappy!

Foodie Friends

At the weekend, I had the pleasure of being cooked for by my good pal, Sally.  

Going out for a meal is lovely, however, sitting down to a home-cooked one with lovely company in a relaxed environment can be just the ticket!  I thought I would share with you the delightful dish Sally prepared due its downright yumminess & (according to Sal) its simple preparation.

I always look forward to a dish whipped up by this chica.  Innovative, flavourful & invented with nutritious ingredients, dinner chez Sally is always fun & very tasty.  This particular meal was dreamt up using the ingredients Sal had to hand & it was oh so perfect for a chilly Winter's evening.  I present to you . . . Le Gratin.

Here is Sally's secret recipe (but shhhh):

Bake the following ingredients in the oven of 200 degrees C for approx. 20-30 mins or until soft & tender:

Half a Butternut or quarter Jap/Grey pumpkin (cut into large chunks)

2-3 large zucchini (sliced into thickish rounds)

A few garlic cloves (kept whole)

Then, mix together the following:

3/4 cup of natural yogurt (Sally made her own, the little wonder)

A good dollop double cream

The cooked garlic, popped from their skins & mashed into mix

Some S&P

Once this is done, layer your cooked pumpkin & zucchini in a baking dish and douse in olive oil.

Pour over the top your yogurt mix and finally, in the words of Sally, "literally parmigiano reggiano".

I was wondering what magnificent cheese this was atop the gratin & felt a little chagrinned when I failed to recognise my own absolute all-time favourite cheese.  I'll blame the other elements of the dish for masking its perfect & distinct flavour characteristics . . . 

Bake in the 200 degree C oven for at least 20 minutes.  But you'll be able to tell when it's ready once the cheese is bubbling & caramalised on top.  Mouth watering goodness.
Serve with a simple green salad (ours was composed of baby spinach, avocado, walnuts & some soft cow's cheese from Yarra Valley Dairy).
Then, dig in!

After pretty well demolishing our dinner, we sat down to some tunes to get us ready for a little dance later on.
Thank you to Sally for imparting her delicious fare!  And thank you for introducing me to more excellent music.  Music, food & friends.  Bliss!

'til the next time :-)

Veg Out

Friday night was a quiet one.  A couple pals came round and we flopped into chairs at the dining table and devoured this hearty oven-baked veggie moussaka.  It was a total improv but worked out stunningly.  It's rich, more-ish &, to boot, it is full of wonderful nutrients and colour.

To start, we inspected the fridge to see what there was a lot of and begging to be used. Here is what was concocted . . . 

Ingredients foraged and prepped:

a dollop of unsalted butter 

a splodge extra-virgin olive oil

1 large onion

2-3 cloves garlic

1 large eggplant, sliced and grilled

3 small zucchini or 2 large, sliced lengthways

9 x 1cm slices of jap pumpkin

2 cups roughly chopped mushrooms

1 tsp smoked paprika

2 tsp mixed dried herbs

a generous pinch of chilli flakes

salt and pepper

1 can of chopped tomatoes & their juice

2 tblsps each of parsley, chopped

1 small handful basil leaves

1/2 cup of grated parmesan or pecorino cheese

Topping: 

2 free-range eggs

2/3 small tub of yogurt

1/3 cup of grated cheddar

pinch of ground nutmeg

First off, pop the sliced pumpkin into a 200 degree C oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until caramelised to your liking.

While that's happening, grill your eggplant/aubergine slices over a high flame on the stove top.  I used a heavy based grill pan for this.  The thinner the slices, the softer and more tender they can be after grilling.

In another pan, heat the butter and oil, add onions and garlic and allow them a few minutes cooking over high heat.  When they're softened, add zucchini, allowing it to soften and colour.  Add your mushrooms along with the dried herbs, smoked paprika, chilli flakes, S&P.  Once they're browned and soft, pour in the tinned tomatoes plus a little water swizzled in the can to collect the remaining sauce.

Let the mixture simmer on a medium heat, and stir occasionally.  Before taking the sauce off of the heat, stir in chopped parsley. 

Now for the topping:

Beat the 2 eggs and whisk in the yogurt until nice and smooth.  Throw in the cheddar and sprinkle in a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg.  Voilà.  Done!

With all components ready to assemble, start layering up like it's Wintertime.

Eggplant first - placed strategically to cover the bottom of your baking dish.

Spread over some of the tomato, zucchini, mushroom sauce and sprinkle half your parmesan.

If you have extra eggplant slices, use them for the next layer, followed by tomato sauce and cheese. Then place the sprigs of basil atop that.  Cover this with the pumpkin and pour over your faux-chemel sauce (aka the yogurt topping).

Place this hefty load in the oven for at least 20 minutes.  If at this time the top is coloured golden and looking firmer, the bake is ready to serve.  If still on the gooey & light side, allow another 5-10 minutes longer in the oven . . . only keep your eyes peeled.

Ready for seconds!?