Category: appetiser

Coconut Chilli Prawn Rolls

These coconut chilli prawn rolls are so quick and easy to make…but are delicious and impressive as a starter or canapé. Beats making normal spring rolls.

Paired with a citrus lime Mayo dipping sauce, they bring together the best of coconut coated prawns and garlic chilli prawns all in one neat wrapping.

You could easily change the flavours and textures by using other spices to the prawns.

Ingredients:

  • 12 green prawns, shelled amd deveined with tail left on
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 red chilli
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • Toasted coconut flakes or toasted desiccated coconut
  • Oil for deep frying
  • 6 square sheets spring roll pastry
  • 1 tablespoon flour or cornflour
  • 2-3 teaspoons water
  • 3 tablespoons whole egg mayonaise
  • Juice of half a lime

Method:

1, Peel and devein green prawns, keeping tails intact

2. Smash up garlic, chilli with salt in a mortar and pestle to form a paste

3. Marinate prawns with paste, can put into fridge for an hour or two if you have time

4. Defrost spring roll pastry according to packet instructions. Make flour glue by mixing flour with water in a small bowl.

5. Take one sheet of spring roll pastry, slice in half, corner to corner, diagonally, to make 2 even triangles.

6. Turn one half of pastry so long edge perpendicular to board, then place prawn with just the tail hanging out on sheet as close to you as possible that it will fit.

7. Sprinkle prawn with toasted coconut flakes or desiccated coconut. (If using desiccated coconut, toast in pan first and cool before adding.)

8. Fold over triangular end of pastry, roll up prawn in rest of pastry, and secure with flour glue.

9. Keep rolls in fridge until you are ready to deep fry and serve.

10. Deep fry until pastry is golden brown for 2-3 minutes. Drain on paper towel.

11. For citrus mayonaise mix 3 tablespoons of mayonaise with the juice of half a lime and mix well until lime juice is integrated with mayonaise to make a silky dipping sauce.

Coconut Chilli Prawn Rolls

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Bocconcini and Spinach Salad with Pickled Red Onion

Tired of the usual bocconcini and tomato salad? The addition of quickly pickled red onions in balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt certainly is a pick me up!

Bocconcini, Tomato, spinach and pickled red onion salad

I layered it on a bed of baby spinach leaves, sliced tomato, sliced baby bocconcini and then dressed with olive oil before scattering over the quick pickled onions, the remaining balsamic, and a sprinkling of torn baby basil leaves and a grind of black pepper.

Here’s a recipe for pickling red onions Simply delicious pickled red onion

Easy pickled red onions

If you prefer a more traditional version, this Bocconcini , tomato, spinach wreath is great all year round and looks very festive.

A #true #Christmas #wreath …ala Tomato, Bocconcini, Basil & spinach salad

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A feast of love! ❤️

Our dear friends renewed their vows today after many years of being in love. It was a beautiful ceremony accompanied by a beautiful feast!

Great ideas here for how to create a visually appetising and stunning buffet for any occasion.

A feast of love to love!
Delightful desserts
Succulent Sushi platter
Finger sandwiches and mini cup cakes
Layers and layers of delicious temptation
Cheese, fruit and sweets

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Burrata with fennel jam, spinach and tomato #burrata #fennel

This Burrata with fennel jam and spinach, with a hint of chilli, was delicious as an accompaniment for dinner tonight.

I was inspired by the Burrata with fennel jam at lunch at Nomad restaurant in Surry Hills in Sydney this week. There it is swimming in fennel flavoured olive oil and served with their delicious crusty sour dough to mop it up.

Burrata with Fennel Jam at Nomad Restaurant in Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia

My version of the fennel jam doesn’t involve quite as much oil, and I added one chilli to the fennel mixture during the cooking to add a kick of spice.

Burrata with fennel jam, spinach and tomatoes

I also teamed up the Burrata and fennel jam with baby spinach leaves and cherry tomatoes to make it much more of a salad.

The resulting combination was really good, and perfect as an accompaniment to our steak tonight. It would also make for a great addition to a buffet or a festive meal. Great to share amongst a few people.

Mind you, you could add more oil and skip the healthy ingredients and serve it just as Nomad restaurant do! Or you could just use the fennel jam as a great accompaniment to cheese or a charcuterie platter.

Burrata with fennel jam, spinach and tomatoes.

  • Ingredients
  • 1 small onion finely sliced
  • 1 bulb fennel finely sliced
  • 4 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons white sugar
  • 4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 or 2 fresh red chillies chopped in large pieces
  • 1/2 bag of baby spinach leaves
  • 10-12 Cherry tomatoes sliced in half
  • 1 large single Burrata ( take out of fridge 10,minutes before serving)
  • Pepper to taste
  • Fennel fronds for garnish

Method

1. Slice fennel and onion as thinly as possible, reserve some of the fennel fronds for garnish.

Thinly sliced fennel bulb

2. Heat oil in large flat, non-stick frying pan, add fennel and onion, lower heat to medium heat and cook slowly until fennel and onion start to soften for about 5 minutes.

3. Add chilli and cook for another 5 minutes.

4. Add sugar and vinegar, stirring until sugar dissolves.

5. Continue cooking until vinegar evaporates and the sugar creates almost a glaze on the fennel and onions.

6. Place baby spinach leaves and tomatoes on a platter, sprinkle cracked black pepper over the leaves and tomatoes, spread fennel jam over the centre.

Burrata with fennel jam, spinach and tomatoes

7. Place Burrata on the top, garnish with a few fennel fronds and serve.

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#Ikamata, A Merry Cook Islands Christmas

After a long and busy year of not much blogging , this Christmas with time on my hands during our Cook Islands holiday, I’m getting back on my blogging “bike”. This setting is perfect for a free spirited foodie!

A slice of paradise – Rarotonga

This week we travelled to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands from Sydney via some excellent meals in Auckland at Giraffe Restaurant and Italian stalwart Baduzzi.

Taro plants growing in Rarotonga

The Cook Islands are made up of 15 islands in the time zone as Hawaii, 21 hours “behind” Australia and across the international dateline, but only 3.5 hours flight from Auckland. (Direct flights from Sydney will recommence in June 2023) ….it’s still Christmas Eve here!

Arriving in Rarotonga really lives up to the description of South Pacific Paradise, and the warm tropical air makes you instantly relax. We are staying with friends Neil and Maxine who have relocated here and are running the beautiful property Arcadia Retreat – 3 private homes available for rent – which is just across the road from the beach and with stunning views of the hills around which the small population is scattered.

Neil whipped up his delicious Ika Mata salad for our welcome lunch which was so good we had to request it the next day as well! Ika Mata is the traditional raw fish salad of the Cook Islands which can be served as an entree or main course.

Here’s the recipe which is perfect for any summer’s day across the globe….you just need the freshest tuna/fish you can find …which of course is in abundance here.

Iki Mata lunch on the deck at Arcadia Retreat, Rarotonga

Ingredients

  • 400g fresh tuna cut into small cubes (the smaller the cubes, the faster your fish will cure)
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 3-4 tablespoons fresh passionfruit juice (seeds removed) *if you don’t have passionfruit then just add the same quantity of additional lime juice
  • 2 birds eye chillies thinly sliced (you can deseed or make this optional)
  • 3 teaspoons table salt
  • 1 cup of coconut milk (ours was fresh but tinned is fine)
  • Salad items like: finely diced tomatoes, spring onions, peeled and deseeded cucumber, capsicum, and onion

Method:

1. Cube tuna and place in a glass or ceramic bowl

2. Mix thinly sliced chilli, salt, orange, lime and passionfruit juice and then pour over the fish and gently mix to cover the fish in the marinade.

3. Place in the fridge to marinate for 20 minutes – half an hour depending on how “cooked through” you’d like your fish.

4. Pour off the liquid from the fish so just the fish and chilli remain in the bowl.

5. Add the salad ingredients, mix through gently and pour over coconut milk and serve.

Ika Mata tuna salad

Eat and enjoy with a crisp white wine, lettuce leaves and some toasted Turkish bread or baguette!

Crispy lettuce leaves and toasted Turkish are delicious accompaniments for Ika Mata

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Durban-style Fish and Potato #Samosas #crispy

Fish filled samosas are a great alternative to Mince and Pea Samosas.

This recipe teams white fish fillets with finely diced potato and herbs for a delicious light filling, that truly shines when dipped in a zesty mint, garlic and chilli sauce.

Fish and potato samosas with zesty lime dipping sauce

The crispy pastry, using spring roll pastry, which is substantially different to the thicker crusty version of Indian samosas is light and adds just the right amount of crunch to these delicious taste parcels.

Ensuring the triangles are firmly sealed with no “gaps” or “holes” to prevent the hot oil to be absorbed into the parcels, then shallow frying rather than deep frying makes for the least oily version possible.

These samosas freeze really well, so you can make ahead and impress guests when they arrive or have a stash to treat yourselves at your pleasing.

Prep time: 2 hours (including making filling) Cooking time: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 8 -10 sheets spring roll pastry (thawed to room temperature)
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 200 g white fish fillets such as flathead, diced into small chunks
  • 1 small potato diced finely
  • 1 onion very finely diced
  • handful of curry leaves
  • 1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 2 cloves garlic and equal amount of ginger pounded to a paste
  • 1-2 small red chillies finely diced
  • 2 tablespoons finely diced coriander
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and then 1 cup of vegetable oil for shallow frying
  • 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon and 2 pinches Salt
  • 1/2 cup or so of water
  • Handful of mint, coriander, 1 cloves garlic and 2 chillies
  • Juice of 1 lime and 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil

Method

1. Boil finely diced potatoes with 1/4 teaspoon salt until just tender, about 5 minutes

2. Heat oil in non-stick frying pan. Add mustard seed, fennel seeds and curry leaves and heat until fragrant.

3. Add onion and cook slowly until transparent.

4. Add ginger and garlic paste add mix through onions, then add fish, salt and white pepper and 1/4 cup water.

5. Simmer until water has totally evaporated and the fish is sealed, just turning white.

6. Remove from heat add potato, chilli and coriander and mix through, slightly break up potatoes and fish as you do, but do not mash. Taste to see if extra salt required.

7. Allow mixture to cool.

8. Mix flour in a small bowl with 3-4 tablespoons of water, adding slowly to create a thick flour “glue”.

9. Take 2 sheets of the spring roll pastry, keeping rest between dampened tea towel to avoid drying out. I have discovered that using a double layer of the pastry creates a more robust case and crispier casing for these samosas.

10. Place each sheet neatly aligned on top of each other, then cut into 3 even strips.

11. Starting at one end, place 1-1.5 teaspoons of mixture on the pastry and then turn pastry over to create a neat triangle. Ensure there are no gaps when you turn the pastry – use the glue to seal openings or gaps between the 2 sheets of pastry as you go. This will ensure the oil doesn’t enter the package when you fry it and make your samosas less oily.

Making fish and potato samosas with spring roll pastry

12. Repeat process until all mixture is used up. Makes about 12-15 samosas.

13. Samosas can be frozen at this point and shallow fried directly from the freezer when you require. They freeze really well.

14. Heat 1/2 cup of vegetable oil in a small non-stick frying pan over high heat, add 3-4 samosas, allowing oil to come back to temperature, then lower heat to medium and cook until samosas are golden and filling is hot.

15. Finely dice mint, coriander, garlic and chilli – I used a mandolin. Place in a small bowl. Add healthy pinch of salt, add lime juice a dash of oil to create a zesty dipping sauce.

16.serve samosas with lime dipping sauce and other sauces as suits.

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