Cold Noodle and Tomato Salad

Ironically, the last time I made this was on the hottest day of the year in Cambridge. I think it cracked 28C? Seems very funny in retrospect :)

I just survived my first 40C+ day of the year (I missed the worst while I was away for Xmas), and this salad was as appealing as ever! I threw in a yellow pepper instead of red, cashews instead of peanuts, a few different kinds of tomatoes, and mung bean sprouts instead of broad beans. The essential Thai dressing still soaked into the cold noodles and gave the whole thing that refreshing crisp taste that momentarily makes you forget that you ever felt hot.

Also, happy birthday to my lovely middle sister, for whom I promised a recipe website as a birthday present many years ago, and I hope is now enjoying a lovely day :)

Huevos Rancheros

After an awesome holiday filled with concerts, food, LEGO, and looooooads of games (Seven Wonders being a particular hit this year), the time came to depart, and with it the opportunity for a farewell lunch together. Briefly tempted by something light, we eventually opted for our favourite huevos rancheros, which meant we were pretty much full until about 10pm. It's great preparing this recipe for loads of people, because you can cut the tortillas into wedges first and overlap them out on massive trays, without worrying (too much) about the toppings sticking to the trays. We also split the toppings between two kinds: tomato and egg, and refried beans. Both topped with plenty of cheese, of course!

Bulghur Wheat and Mango Salad

A nice riff on this recipe from summer last year: a bit more cucumber and mint, and a handful of basil, as we had no radishes. And a huge bbq'd sweetcorn, YUM.

Meatballs

Following my usual recipe, this time with pure beef mince, a little rosemary and parsley, and a fresh loaf of white bread for extra-special breadcrumbs, I make three trays of meatballs, enough for a huge pasta dish for the week and a large bag for the freezer. Nothing like the smell of fresh bread and hot meatballs on a Sunday morning :)

Pasta with Butternut Squash

Cupboard food again! Eerily I have used almost exactly the same pasta as last time. Stuck record?

Refried Beans

We have been eating beans all week, thanks to the 2kg or so I made last weekend. Beans on baked potatoes, beans with barbequed sweet potato, beans in wraps and of course, beans on toast! The consequences haven't been entirely pleasant for those around us. This is the last meal I'm making with the beans, and since it's been a whole week I wanted to reheat them right through. So I threw in a couple of spring onions and the rest of my spices from my refried beans recipe, and tossed about in a pan until spicy and sizzling. It's amazing what you can do a few spices and the last sad vegetables at the bottom of the drawer: guacamole, salsa, barbequed sweet potato and shredded lettuce complement the lovely beans in some yum (freshly-defrosted) tortilla wraps.

Toad in the Hole

I got back from my travels pretty exhausted so Saturday was a bit of a blur - we went to the Good Food and Wine show which didn't quite live up to the name, although I did get some nice dukkah. Sunday we had some friends from the UK over at the weekend on their way from a wedding elsewhere in Perth, and put on a big barbie for them - of course! Along with kangaroo steaks and prawns, we barbequed a mighty pile of sausages both as a back-up plan and to be useful for the rest of the week. Monday swung round and I left a very clear recipe for the man to follow: he did everything to the letter except randomly decided to barbeque the dish instead of baking it. Unfortunately Toad is essentially a soufflé, and the poor thing turned into a total biscuit. Later in the week I simply had to make it again, properly! The eggs rose magnificently, the outside was crisp and the inside was squishy. Yum!

Roast Chicken and Oranges

Oranges are coming back into season, which is wonderful as they're simply delicious here. We're still eating the chicken - we don't eat a lot of meat in each meal! With a little blanched, shredded Savoy, and a generous serving of tiny roast potatoes, a wing and a thigh each are just right.

Chicken Soup

Slowly on the mend from the bad belly - Zumba was very hard work with my stomach complaining and cramping for half the class. What better to soothe it than a homely chicken soup?

French-ish Salad

Back from Bangalore with a bad belly >.< Luckily my wonderful husband knows that after a long trip, all I want is vegetables and water; this French-ish salad and a little pumpkin scone were delightful!

Sausages and Apple Rings

Reposting a classic fallback. Another prepped-by-man pile of awesomeness! Particularly his inventive tripling of the quantity of mashed potato needed to feed two people ;)

Butternut Squash, Goat Feta and Rocket Pizza

It's a lovely photo of one of our favourite pizzas! This one was entirely prepared by my super-husband while I teleconned, which kept me from interfering with his oven and pizza stone management. :)

Minestrone

Just got back from diving and snorkelling in Exmouth, where we saw the amazing whale sharks :) As usual we ate too much fish n chips, and too many snacky carby things on the dive boat. And when we got back, we found some kind of hurricane had hit Perth, leaving trees toppled, a gale howling, and the temperature a chilly 18 C (lol). So I'm moving back into warming winter recipes, and particularly focussing on fresh vegetables to get us back into health before I go to India next week. Luckily we got back an hour before the shops closed, so managed to pick up some really excellent produce. I'm shopping seasonally, which means some of the summer things like peppers, aubergines and plums have fallen off the menu, but coming in are root vegetables, cabbage and pumpkin.

Tonight I really wanted the sharp tang of a minestrone, combined with the pleasing softness of simple cannellini beans and the heady aroma of fresh basil. So I made a variation on my previous recipe, skipping the green beans, putting the cannellini in at the end (they are much less sturdy than chick peas), and adding a swirl of rocket and basil leaves to the bowls as I served out the stew. Delicious.

Back from Bali: Haggis!

We were in Bali last weekend for a short holiday and on our return we had just a touch of the 'Bali belly'! So this week has been very much a back-to-basics week; we've had lamb abruzzio, quesadillas, pasta with roast tomatoes, fajitas, and pork chops. Nothing exciting but no time to experiment. Tonight we made something I've been meaning to since January 25th this year -- haggis :) There is a little 'expat' shop down Albany Highway that sources them from a local butcher; at $20 a pop they're not cheap, but they certainly are tasty :) And more authentic than the ones I got back in the UK! I think this one was actually made with a real stomach. Mmmmm....

Salt n Pepper Tofu Stir Fry

To go with our vegetarian steaks, we made a quick stir fry. The tofu was salted and peppered and fried separately, then left to drain. We finely chopped the vegetables and about half a thumb of ginger, stir-fried them quickly for a few minutes, then added the tofu and a splash of soy sauce at the end. Nom.

French Toast with Bananas

Cos, you know, this is very different from my initial post on how to make this :) Actually I'm just happier with the photo. YUM.

BBQ Spare Ribs and Sweet Potatoes

I half-expected Google auto-complete to write this post for me. It's become such a fallback for us! It only takes minutes to prepare and it's super-tasty and interactive. Tonight I had some chives so snipped them into half a pot of sour cream to make a tasty dip for the sweet potatoes.

Snapper Fillet and Pumpkin Mash

Been having a crazy busy couple of weeks so falling back on a lot of previously-tested recipes, like this one for a robust marinade for some yummy snapper. This time the carbs are helpfully provided by a couple of potatoes, augmented by a few chunks of pumpkin five minutes before being boiled to tenderness, then fluffed into a coarse mash with a swirl of creme fraiche.

BBQ'd Herby Lamb Chops with Red Pepper Quinoa

Going right back to a Nigel Slater herb rub for this one, but applied to a couple of fat lamb chops from the local butcher. We only grill them until rare and mop up the juices with some quinoa spiked with roast red peppers and plum raisins, and a couple of salad leaves.

Sticky Pork Ribs

Love these on the barbie! Served with a pair that are fast becoming an autumn staple for us: a sweet potato sliced into disks and a couple of sweet corn, both whacked on the barbie around the same time as the ribs.