Happy 2023 everyone!  Today I am sharing a “recipe” for a starter that is low on fuss and time but high on elegance!  Oysters with caviar will bring the luxe to a formal dinner party or some glam to your backyard barbecue. We had these as a little snack before heading out to dinner on New Year’s Eve.  I am actually using salmon roe instead of caviar for my oysters.  I may like to eat like a posh person but my budget does not spread to a 1/4 cup of real caviar.  If you would like to use the real stuff though go right ahead!  Oh and please invite me to your party!

Australia’s Favourite Recipes – The Book

A few months ago, we decided to use charity shop books as a theme for our Tasty Reads Cookbook Club.  Most of our club members met for breakfast and then went looking through the local op shops for some culinary treasures.  The book I chose, Australia’s Favourite Recipes is a monster of a book.  I regretted buying it almost the minute I got it home because it is so big it does not fit into any of my bookshelves and so can only be accommodated lying flat.  It is also very heavy which makes it quite cumbersome which probably explains why I have not cooked from it a lot. For context, it is about shoulder height for Holly who is a small beagle.

One thing I did make from this book was a lovely Apricot Meringue Dacquoise for the Cook Book Club meeting.

Actually, on reflection that Dacquioise was amazing.  Even if I do say so myself!  I’ll throw in the recipe for that too as it would also be perfect for entertaining!

And speaking of recipes, here is the one for the Oysters with Caviar if you can even call something this simple a recipe!  I guess though when you are using some luxe ingredients like Oysters and Caviar, you want to keep things simple!  The last thing you would want to do is to overshadow them!

I used the Yarra Valley caviar infused with Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin for these.  The dark colour of the gin-infused salmon roe is so pretty and festive!

The Recipe – Oysters with Caviar

I really liked the pop of the salmon roe in this.  Which got me thinking…for Christmas, the Fussiest Eater in the World bought me a Finger Lime tree.  These are Australian native limes but instead of the normal lime flesh when you open them up your get these lovely pearls as in the picture below.

They are very slow growing so it will likely be a few years before my little tree bears fruit. But I already have plans to celebrate my first lime by remaking this recipe using a finger lime instead of a lemon for a double pop!  We have the variety called pink ice which is the middle one in the picture above.  Here is our little tree.  And in another comparison, here is the large book next to the small tree.

Ok, I promise that will be the last time I compare one thing of a size you don’t know to another thing of a size you don’t know.  🤦 Here’s the recipe for the Dacquoise!

To all of you, thank you so much for reading and commenting!  Have a wonderful, safe and happy new year!