What I ate on my holidays
January 18, 2013Salad days
It’s been 46.2 degrees Celsius here in Sydney today – that’s over 112 degrees for you Farenheit fans – at the end of my first week back in the office for a loooong time. Luckily this room is air conditioned unlike the rest of the house, but I’m wondering what on earth to cook for dinner. Last time it got nearly this hot I made this, but I think I have a batch of Karen Martini’s amazing Syrian chicken in the freezer, so I think we’ll have that (actually it’s ours, not Karen’s – but the recipe is hers…)
January has been perfect salad weather so far. So in lieu of a very, very overdue posting – and just before I go and find a cooling bevvy in the fridge – I’ve decided instead of writing here I will merely present a pictorial history of my favourite bits of holiday cooking and eating. Salads, salads, salads and more salads, with the odd bit of protein thrown in. Have been inspired again by the wonderful Ottolenghi lads, as I was given this fantastic book for Christmas, but also have revived lots of old favourites. Hope to be back here soon with some recipes … if you’re in Australia, stay cool folks!
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- Roasted capsicum, fresh zucchini & capers
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- Roasted carrots with mint & balsamic vinegar
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- Standby we love – peas braised with garlic, anchovies & chilli
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- Dinner!
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- These recipes from The Monday Morning Cooking Club cookbook – it’s great and proceeds are for charity.
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- A huge new favourite, replicated from a dish we ate at Hellenic Republic in Melbourne. Delicious – lentils, nuts, seeds, freekeh, capers and pomegranate
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- The Art Van Go Christmas brownies – a tradition for Senor’s clients, from the excellent Karen Martini recipe in Where the Heart Is.
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- Easy-peasy curing with just salt, sugar & dill. So good,
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- Americano – the summer drink
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- Feather & Bone Christmas ham – divine
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- My sister in law Jacqui made this and we ate it at Swansea on the Tassie coast just after Christmas. Even better when not assembled in my view.
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- I learned how easy it is to open a walnut, and how good they are fresh. These were from the local farm at Swansea.
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- Brekky from the Evandale market en route to the Launceston airport after Christmas,
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- Passata! Reading Barbara Kingsolver inspired me to try more preserving.
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- Roasting capsicums for bottling
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- Result!
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- Some Ottolenghi gorgeousness
Oh look, the cool change is here! Aaaaahhhh….
How to shuck an oyster 
Happy new year Charlotte – how do you do the peas???
Di
Happy new year Charlotte! How do you do the peas???
Di
Hi Charlotte, fancy Nancy here in down town cOma, yes well enough said. Good to see you back on the job.
Salads it is however humble (mine at least) so easy to throw some extra goodies in and cover in yummy dressing and it’s just what the doctor ordered.
Looove you.
Helloo friends! Diana, the peas are – well, easypeasy. Saute garlic gently with anchovies in lots olive oil till anchos dissolve, add frozen peas and a bit of chilli if you feel like it, cook gently till soft. Chuck lemon juice in at the end. And maybe some mint if you feel like it – killer, easy recipe and you can always have the ingreds on hand.
Nancy, excellent to hear from you. Hope you didn’t get burned in all those scary bushfires, was thinking of my Monaro pals … And yes dressings – we really need a post on salad dressings some time. What are your fave dressings??
I’ve missed your posts! Welcome back, Charlotte – and happy new cooking! You did that Feather&Bone ham proud. My F&B turkey was the best I’ve ever tasted, even if I DO say so myself…
A good standby here in the Perth heat is to take the slow cooker or the electric frypan outside to cook anything from roasted meat or vegetables for a salad in the frypan, or corned beef etc in the slow cooker. That way the heat stays outside.
Well – it doesn’t look as though you’ve been going hungry in the heat, Charlotte! Some lovely looking dishes here. I’d really like to hear more about the lentils – when hunting for split peas last week, I found 5 pkts of lentils in the pantry. Need suggestions for them – urgently!!
The day before Sydney’s scorcher was a total fire ban day in Victoria. I was camping down on the coast and the fire ban rules out gas stoves as well as fires. While some used the camp barbeque or drove into town for takeaways, I threw a can of drained four-bean mix into a bowl with cucumber, tomatoes and cos (fresh from a fellow camper’s garden back in town) with olive oil and lemon juice and a can of tuna. Easy no cooking and cool.
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