Category: Dishiest Dish

03
Feb
2022

Smoked Salmon Tarts

categories: Dishiest Dish, Smoked Salmon, Starters, Tarts

Hello and welcome to my best of January post! It was not the start to the year I was looking for – the month was fraught with illness (human and canine) and a nasty car accident for the Fussiest Eater in the World from which he is still recovering. In the midst of all the misery though, there was still time for some good food starting with these smoked salmon tarts from Alimentari by Linda Jones.

These are little morsels of deliciousness. I shared this recipe with a friend of mine and, like me, they have become one of her go to entertaining snacks. So tasty, so pretty, they transport really well for picnics and other out of home occasions and if you happen to have any left (unlikely) they are delicious the following day – I ate mine at ambient temperature but you could heat them if you wanted or have them cold from the fridge.

I also used whole tom berries and not halved cherry tomatoes.

Smoked Salmon Tarts – The Recipe

Other Favourites of The Month

Reading

One More Croissant for the Road by Felicity Cloake

I cannot tell you how much I loved this book!!! Felicity Cloake is a British food writer who is also a keen cyclist. In this book, she cycles around France, eating and drinking the signature dishes in each town (Quiche in Lorraine, Provencal Fish Soup in Marseille etc). I love all things French so reading this was an absolute delight! I loved her voice and really want Felicity to be my new best friend! (There are also recipes) 💖

I also read the most recent Lianne Moriarty, Apples Never Fall. This was an audiobook and, just like last month, the narrator’s voice irritated me. Apart from that, I enjoyed the story and what an ending!!!!! 😲

Cookbook

Someone’s voice who definitely doesn’t irritate me is Diana Henry, the British cookbook writer. I bought her cookbook, A Change Of Appetite in January and I am looking forward to cooking from it very soon!

The cover is so pretty too!

Watching

We watched the The Puppet Master on Netflix the other night which was excellent. It is about a conman who has been operating since the 1990’s posing as an MI5 Agent. It is compelling viewing!

Listening

And, if you are intrigued by that story of a conman pretending to be an MI5 agent, you will be as fascinated as I was by Sweet Bobby. This is a catfishing podcast about another sociopath pretending to be an MI5 agent.

Note to self and to everyone else. Like they say in The Puppet Master… If someone tells you they are an MI5 agent, they are generally NOT an MI5 agent!

The issue of pathological lying also crops up in Apples Never Fall, so on the whole, I have spent a month immersed in liars, cheats, conmen and sociopaths!

I am on the lookout for new things to watch and new listen to, let me know your recommendations!

Playing

Like everyone else I am obsessed with WORDLE.

It is the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning. My favourite opening words have changed from CABIN to TRAIN to IRATE.

What’s your favourite opener?

Cooking

We have our Foodies meeting this week where the theme is tv shows. I am cooking from The Cook Up with Adam Liaw. I haven’t finalised what I am making but these are most likely going to be on the menu!

Shopping

My Mum and I went antiquing and I bought these gorgeous Scotch Whiskey ceramic decanters which are now taking pride of place on my bar cart.

So, you’re all caught up on my life! Here’s hoping February is a better month!

Have a wonderful week!

04
Apr
2016

Safavid Style Beef Pastries

categories: Books, Dish of The Week, Dishiest Dish, Persiana

Hey, lovely people of retro food world. I feel like I have been totally neglecting you recently but believe me, you are not alone. Top o’ the list of neglect as been myself. There was a night last week when my dinner consisted of 1 cronut and 2…ok…3 glasses of red wine. Oh and tears. Which I figure counts for grains, fruit and salt. That’s three of the food groups isn’t it?

I have been working all the hours and even though it has been crazy busy, I have also been loving it.

The tears were because that night I realised I had not only missed a book club meeting but I had missed the emails advising of the book club meeting so I was basically a no show which I hate. Because that’s just rude.

So, there has not been much cooking done at all. One of the few things I have made was the Safavid Style Beef Pastries from Persiana. My plan was to get home by 7, maybe 7:30 and then make a yoghurt sauce and some salad and the pastries – I had already made the beef mixture – and we would eat, drink and be merry and marvel over the elaborate pastry swirls and curlicues I had formed. Except I didn’t get home til closer to 8:30 and those pastries were thrown together with the love and attention that you would normally give a a not very interesting advertisement for something you have no intention of buying. There was no yoghurt sauce. There was no salad. There were some badly formed pastries on a plate with a blob of ketchup mixed with tabasco sauce (me) and HP sauce (him).

BTW, these should have looked like this:

I felt I had done really badly on this meal. So when I asked a very tentative “So what do you think?” I was pretty much bracing myself for critique that contained all the things I was berating myself for, being all the missing parts of the meal I had planned in my head. And that the pastries looked like they had been made with someone with no opposable thumbs.

“These are great. I really like them”

“What?”

“Are there more? Can I have some more?”

Sabrina Ghayour, this is why I love you.

Speakin’ of which

The Persiana Project

Last time we spoke I had 32 recipes left to cook from Persiana. Somehow, and I don’t even know how I managed to do this, we are now down to 26.

I made the Safavid Beef Pastries, the Cod with Relish, the marinated feta, the feta cigars from the marinated feta and….two other things that I have no recollection of making. Such is the fugue state of my brain. On the other hand, this challenge is going really well. And OMG…the marinated feta and the feta cigars? Delightful, delicious, delovely!

Next on the list to cook is the Chicken and Artichoke salad which I am planning to make tomorrow night. Then again, I was also planning to make it tonight and ended up having a jaffle made with some leftover curry instead. This is actually one of the very best ways to eat leftover curry – and a special little trick – instead of just plain butter on the bread, make a little garlic butter. Leftover heaven!

Inbox Zero

Because I have been so busy my personal inbox is out of control. At last count I had about 2700 unread emails. My challenge for April is to get this under control i.e. no more than one page of unread. I have found in the past, the best way to do this is to pick the latest email, search for all from that sender and work through them in a batch. This is particularly good for anyone who is selling anything as you can do a mass delete and voila that’s 30 emails gone in 10 seconds. But if anyone has any tips on how to control a crazy inbox, please let me know!

Watching

I reinstated our Netflix subscription over Easter so I am finally watching Making A Murderer.

I am also binge watching The Librarians…this is almost like someone make a show EXACTLY for me. It’s set in a library and its about really smart people solving supernatural stuff. Who even knew I had that many buttons that could be hit?

Reading

The Midnight Watch

Loved it, loved it, loved it. Best book I have read thus far this year. And I feel like I have read a lot of good stuff already. Stay tuned. There will be more. Soon.

The Method

I loved this too. How is this for a premise?

“Imagine a helpless, pregnant 16-year-old who’s just been yanked from the serenity of her home and shoved into a dirty van. Kidnapped . . . Alone . . . Terrified.

Now forget her . . .

Picture instead a pregnant, 16-year-old, manipulative prodigy. She is shoved into a dirty van and, from the first moment of her kidnapping, feels a calm desire for two things: to save her unborn son and to exact merciless revenge.

She is methodical – calculating – scientific in her plotting. Leaving nothing to chance, she waits . . . for the perfect moment to strike. The Method is what happens when the victim is just as cold as the captors.”

This week I am hoping for a bit more time away from work to get my life back under control. I am planning to cook the salad from Persiana as mentioned but also Anthony Bourdain’s Onion Soup Les Halles, and a mixed mushroom strudel.

Your turn now. What are you cooking, reading, watching doing this week? I love to hear from you so let me know. Also., please send clearing email tips.

Oh and if anyone out there is a jam maker? I have an A-Z of Cooking Project just for you – get your 1970’s jam on! Just let me know.

Have a super week!

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27
Feb
2016

REPOST from February 2016 The Dishiest Dish – Poulet Vallée D’Auge

categories: Apples, Books, Chicken & Poultry, Dish of The Week, Dishiest Dish, France

This week’s highlight came from France…from Normandy to be be precise. Or to be even more precise from the the Pays D’Auge. This is apple country and the chicken casserole that is the Poulet Vallée D’Auge contains both apples and Calvados, the apple brandy that is also a specialty of the region.

And if chicken, apples and Calvados aren’t enough for you how about we add a generous dollop of creme fraiche into the mix. Bon Appetit indeed.

We had a bit of a cold snap in the week so this hearty kind of meal was perfect. And for those of you in the Northern hemisphere who are still in the midst of winter, this will warm any, and all,the cockles you have.

The perfect drink to have with this would be a cider, one from Normandy would be perfect! Or maybe a wee glass of that Calvados.

This is a lovely dish and that sauce is divine!

I also made these prawn cakes from the Paleo book. They looked gorgeous but tasted only ok. I felt the restrictions of the Paleo diet really made themselves felt here. Thai food is meant to have that mix of sweet, salt, sour and heat. The recipe as it stood had no sweet in the dipping sauce. It vastly improved after I added some sugar. They do look pretty though!

The Six Week Challenges

No Alcohol

The six weeks of “no” alcohol are nearly over. I had a bit of a set back this week. A friend of mine resigned from work and we arranged to go for doughnuts so he could tell me all about it. And somehow on the way to the doughnut shop we got waylaid by the little bar on the corner. We were halfway through our glass of vino when we started getting messages. “Where are you? The fire alarms are going off. We need to evacuate the building”. I am the fire warden for our office. Can you believe it? I never leave my desk. NEVER. And the ONE time I go off for a sneaky ~~doughnut~~ pinot, the flipping fire alarms go off.

What could we do? They would have grounded the lifts, we weren’t getting back into the building in a hurry. Nothing for it but to have a second glass o’ wine.

Here is the scene of the crime – Dikstein’s Corner Bar,

We had a lovely New Zealand Pinot but ewwww…did I feel seedy afterwards. Totally lethargic, no motivation to do anything except flop on the couch and tune out in front of the telly for the entire evening. I will say more about this challenge when it is over – in just a couple of days. But after yesterday I am seriously evaluating my relationship with booze.

Meditation

Still struggling with this one. I thought this would be so much easier than giving up booze. Not so. I”ll try to lift my game for the last two weeks. And this one can go back on the list for a re-do later in the year.

Flexibility

I’m LOVING this. And after only a week or so in, I am already seeing the difference! I am mixing it up between two different routines – one has a morning routine and an evening routine so if I get up early enough I do that one. If not, there is another where you do one 10 minute workout for the day. Really happy with this one!

The March Challenge

I have not decided what will replace the no alcohol challenge come the first of March.

I am narrowing it down:

Journalling – I used to journal all the time and love it. And I think in some ways that was my meditation. I REALLY want to get back into it.

Candy Crush – MUST. STOP. PLAYING.

Food – I feel I should replace a “food” challenge with another food challenge – I was thinking maybe a month without bread, pasta potatoes. But Jenny has inspired me to do one around food waste.

I will do what I did last month and see what jumps out at me on the morning of the first! Eeeeekkk – can you believe it’s almost March?

Reading

I have given up on The Apologist for my audiobook. I could not get into it. I had previously started Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantell and I have gone back to that.

You can keep your real Housewives…for real scandal and intrigue, give me the Tudors anyday!

But my major discovery this week was this:

Savage Lane by Jason Starr

Savage Lane = Jason Starr

The hot pink cover had me at hello. I like to read dark and this is pitch black! It is also pitch perfect. Nasty, nasty people doing nasty, nasty things. I’m loving it!

Here is the premise:

“Life is sublime in the idyllic suburbs of New York City. Recent divorcée Karen Daily and her two kids have, for the first time in years, found joy as they settle into the close-knit community of Savage Lane. Neighbours, Mark and Deb Berman have been so supportive as she moves on in life: teaching at the local school and even dating again.

But behind the pristine houses and perfect smiles lie dark motives far more sinister than Karen could have ever imagined. Unknown to her, Mark, trapped in his own unhappy marriage, has developed a rich fantasy life for the two of them. And, as rumours start to spread, it seems that he isn’t the only one targetting Karen”

This is the first book of his I have read but I am now keen to read more. And all of his covers from No Exit Press are equally arresting:

Plants

I am going through a phase where I want to fill my house with plants.

Have started following the jungalow. Her instagram is also amazing!

https://www.instagram.com/justinablakeney/

And have been trying to find a local version of these West Elm Planters.

West Elm Mid Century Planters

Now I just have to buy some plants!

That’s about it. I haven’t really done much else this week except work.

On The Menu

Saffron chicken from Persiana
Lamb Kebabs from the A-Z of Cooking with the tomato salad with pomegranate salad also from Persiana….and eeeekkkk. Sabrina has a new book coming out in May! I can hardly wait!
Honeycomb Cheesecake from A Moveable Feast
Sweet Potato cakes with Lemon Chickpeas

Sirocco

That’s about it for me for this week. Except for the recipe for the Poulet Vallée D’Auge – which you can find here.

What are you cooking, reading, doing this weekend? I am planning to take the dogs down to the dog beach for a play.

Have a wonderful weekend whatever you do.

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18
Feb
2016

The Dishiest Dish – Pizza Rustica Con Bietola

categories: Books, Chard, Dish of The Week, Dishiest Dish, Pastry, Podcasts, Prosciutto, Savoury Pies and Tarts, TV

“Hey mambo, mambo Italiano hey, hey mambo mambo Italiano
Go go go you mixed up Siciliano
All you Calabrese do the mambo like-a crazy”

This week’s dishiest dish has us going to Abruzzo for a Pizza Rustica con Bietola. AKA a savoury tart with chard . But Pizza Rustican con Bietola sounds so much more Italian and glamorous doesn’t it? And it will have you dancing the mambo because it is super tasty!

The recipe comes from Made in Italy by Silvia Colloca which was my choice when we did Italian in the Tasty Reads book club a few months ago.

Before I looked inside this book I had my hater face on. As if some B grade actress was going to have any cooking chops – and bear in mind the Claudia Roden book was one of the other selections. This was going to have to be pretty damn impressive to rival that!

Then I started flicking through and ye-es there were several pictures of Silvia looking both incredibly beautiful and impossibly thin. But it was also filled with what looked like some fabulous recipes and things that were not run of the mill. And everything I have made to date has been delicious.

This has included:

Calimari with Tomatoes and Wine
Woodsman’s Chicken
Herb Frittata with Goat’s Curd
Noodles with Zucchini Blossoms and Saffron Sauce
No Knead Spelt Pizza with Soppressata and Potatoes
Pasta Strips with Slow Cooked Goat Sauce

So, this is proving a pretty solid choice. Yay me! Well, really yay Silvia! But you know, I write a blog and it doesn’t get much more totally self obsessed than that so I guess yay me is valid.

Six Week Challenges – Update

I am still on my 6 weeks of no alcohol although I did take last weekend off! Saturday night we were having lobster – OH. MY. WORD. So good!!!! And there was no way on God’s green earth that I was not having a glass of sparkling with that! And Sunday we went out for a Valentine’s Day dinner to our favourite local Greek restaurant. And again – it would have been churlish not to have a glass of vino! But on the whole it is going well . I haven’t really missed it. I also haven’t felt many of the supposed benefits – weight loss, sleeping better, greater productivity etc.

I have been struggling with the daily meditation. I don’t think I have found the perfect time to do it. In the mornings I am usually too rushed and if i try to do it at night I fall asleep. Two places it did feel “right” were one day I did it as soon as I got home from work so it was a bit of a chance to decompress. The other was one morning when I had parked m car at the station, i just stayed in it and did my ten minutes there.

My new one, started February 15th is a flexibility challenge. Every day I will do a short workout designed to improve my flexibility. I am using the program from Fitivity. I have only done a couple so far and they have been fine but a bit boring. I’m sure they will get more challenging as I progress!

I have been thinking of more that I can do over the next few weeks /months:

No processed food
No sugar
Yoga everyday
No Candy crush
Journalling everyday

Are all on the list.

Reading

Room – Emma Donoghue

I have had this book on my To Be Read shelf for YEARS. And finally now I have taken the plunge and have started it – simply because I want to have read it before I see the film. I am probably 2/3 of the way through and I think it is very well written. There are certain parts that I have found quite confronting and other parts that have annoyed me but once I start reading it I find it difficult to put down. I am still having some problems with starting picking it up and starting it each day though…..

Room - Emma Donoghue

The Apologist – Jay Rayner

This is my current audiobook. Marc Bassett is a merciless restaurant critic. One day a chef commits suicide by roasting himself in his bread oven, leaving Bassett’s review taped to the outside. And so begins his career as the apologist.

I am not very far along with this but I am enjoying it so far.

Watching

My Kitchen Rules

I can’t help myself. I am utterly addicted to this. And the commentary on Flawless Vision.

Listening

I Know What You’ll Read This Summer Podcast.

I have only listened to one episode of this but they hated Girl on The Train almost as much as I did so it’s definitely worth another listen.

Room 101

From time to time I’ve decided to list a few pet peeves on here. Things that I would like to see banished to Room 101. Starting with:

Gluten Free Everything

When you label your bread, cakes and cookies gluten free you are doing a good service for those people who cannot tolerate gluten. When you label products that would never have contained gluten in a pink fit “Gluten Free” you are indulging in a cynical marketing ploy. STOP IT. I swear I saw water labelled gluten free recently. It made me want to break things.

Quinoa

Has no one else noticed how bad this smells as it is cooking. I made some the other day and the smell of it made me gag. I”m never cooking it again.

Cooked.com

I took out an annual subscription for cooked.com. This, for those of you who may not have heard of it is kind of like a netflix for cookbooks. Does anyone else have one of these? Do you find it useful? how long have you had it. Does it help you to choose which cookbooks to buy or do you not buy them anymore? I have not actually cooked anything from the site yet. I guess I’d better start! Stay tuned!

Kitchen Nightmares

I had one kitchen nightmare this week. I was all set to make Vitello Tonnato for bookclub only it was a new style “healthy” VT. So, instead of that gorgeous tuna mayonnaise, my tonnato was made out of tofu, anchovies and parmesan cheese. And it was rank! I have never been one to complain about the smell of parmesan cheese. I remember even in primary school when people would say “Yuck, it smells like sick”, I always thought they were nuts. This abomination of a tonnato not only smelt like but tasted like vomit. It was so bad I couldn’t even give it to the dogs.

Now though, I am craving a proper old school Italiano Vitello Tonnato. It’s a shame Silvia’s book does not have a recipe. However, The A-Z of Cooking does. There will be 1970’s Vitello Tonnato on here very soon. I just have to allow the memory of the horror that was that tofu tonnato to subside a little!

What Silvia’s book does have is this recipe for Pizza Rustica con Bietola. I am obsessed by those words. I keep repeating them in an increasingly bad Italian accent! If you would also like to become obsessed with this lovely tart here is the recipe:

This week I am looking forward to cooking…nothing. Because I have been really busy and not done a single bit of menu planning. However, we have a new Tasty Reads book so I might crack this open and give something a whirl.

Oh and this is is my new favourite you-tube. I have watched it about a million times since I found it.

What was the best thing you’ve made this week? What are you looking forward to cooking? Have you read anything interesting? I would love to hear from you!

Have a wonderful week!

Happy cooking.

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05
Feb
2016

Dishiest Dish – Apricot and Rhubarb Frangipane Tarts

categories: Apricots, Books, Dish of The Week, Dishiest Dish, Pastry, Rhubarb, Tarts, TV

It’s been a while since we have had a dishiest dish – I thought it was timely that we had look at some I had cooked successfully! I made these Apricot and Rhubarb Frangipane Tarts over the break. They were pretty easy to make and tasted delicious!

And who says you can’t play with your food? These are perfect for a little game of tic-tac-toe!

Or you can give them to people you like as little kisses and hugs. Valentine’s day’s a-coming. Why give someone flowers when you can give them some delicious almondy fruity deliciousness?

Who doesn’t love

Crisp buttery pastry – no soggy bottoms here!
A lovely sweet almond filling
The apricots and rhubarb, both of which have a natural tanginess help to make the tarts not too cloying or heavy.
An amaretto and apricot glaze

Never mind saying it with flowers. Proclaim your love with pastry!

My Six Week Challenges

This year, instead of setting a series of resolutions, I was inspired by my friend Ali to try a series of smaller challenges over the course of the year. I started mid-January with 6 weeks of no alcohol. The start of February sees me trying to build a meditation practice! I am aiming for 42 days straight of meditation. I haven’t figured out what I will pick up in mid-Feb but that’s half the fun – deciding what to do next! Hopefully some things I will stick with and some things I may do another six weeks later in the year!

Reading

I have been on a reading binge – I have had a real spurt of books I have enjoyed.

Disclaimer by Renée Knight

Imagine if you started reading a book that had mysteriously appeared in your house only to find out the book was about you. Specifically about you and an incident from your past which you have kept hidden from everyone – and the only other person who knew about it is a long time dead….

I would give this one a 7/10. The plot required a hefty suspension of belief on a couple of major points but all up, a fast paced enjoyable read.

All These Perfect Strangers – Aiofe Clifford

I loved this. But I am a big fan of the mystery set in academia. The Secret History is one of my favorite books and there are some similar themes here. This is not released until March – I was given a free copy for review but it is certainly one I can heartily recommend.

Funnily enough, the book in Disclaimer was called The Perfect Stranger. It was a really weird but totally cool coincidence!

9/10

The Grown Up – Gillian Flynn

This short story (it’s just over 6O pages on my Kindle) has more twists and turns than a spiral staircase. I loved it. And you can read it from start to finish in about an hour!

9/10

Luckiest Girl Alive – Jessica Knoll

Another outsider goes to posh school – mayhem ensues book. I did tell you I had a thing for them. Do not read this if you are one of those (annoying) people who has to like the main character in a book. Tifani/Ani in Luckiest Girl Alive is awful! She’s shallow and self obsessed, snarky and mean. I am about three quarters of the way through this and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I hope the end is not a let down.

I just noticed three out of the four of them mention Gone Girl. And have black, white and yellow covers. I’m sensing a zeitgeist.

Watching

Come Dine With Me

I started watching old episodes of the British Come Dine with Me on the telly over the break and am now utterly obsessed with it. I soon exhausted all the episodes available and am now mainlining episodes on You Tube.

The best part is the narrator. He is hilarious.

Oh and there was a series of episodes with my girl-crush Sabrina Ghayour of Persiana fame.

Pointless

Another British show. This is like a reverse Family Feud where people try to guess the least popular answers to a question, the goal being trying to get an answer that whilst correct, no one in the studio audience chose. It would be a fairly run of the mill quiz show if not for the hosts – host and co host who are just delightful. Charming, witty. Smart. I could watch the two of them banter all day!

The XFiles

So excited about this. We were a week behind the States so are only two episodes in. And it’s been great. Even though I have been watching the classic episodes, when I heard that theme music and saw that they had kept the old intro I got almost a little teary….

Other Stuff

Nigella

And speaking of getting a little teary, I went to see Nigella Lawson in conversation. She was brilliant. There a not many people for whom I would stand in line for and hour and a half just to get a book signed by she was worth every minute.

Now, how about a recipe for these babies?

This week I am looking forward to cooking:

Chicken, Feta and Zucchini Meatballs from my latest Tasty Reads Choice, Life in Balance by Donna Hay. We have our meeting in a few weeks and I feel I have not done this book justice. Time to get cracking!
A Biscotten Torte from the A-Z of Cooking
Tomato, Peach, Proscuitto and Mozzarella Salad. I am the only person in my family who likes fruit mixed in with salads that are not fruit salads. Does that make me weird? Or them?

Time to share. What are you enjoying reading / watching / doing?

What was the best thing you cooked this week?

Whats top of your list to cook next?

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