Monday, August 8, 2016

Roast carrots with feta and lemon/honey dressing

This makes a lovely entree, or a vegetable side dish, as you wish. Persian in influence, it's been slightly adapted (by me!)
It's also very simple.

Ingredients:
Carrots, cut lengthwise
Olive oil
Juice of half a lemon(or lime)
Two teaspoons good honey
Salt, pepper
Some feta, crumbled(we used Bulgarian sheep's milk feta, which has a very fine flavour but you can use goat's milk feta if you want or even cow's milk)
Some chopped chives or other herbs

Method
Coat the carrot sticks with olive oil. Roast the carrots. Mix the lemon juice and honey. Take the carrots out when almost done and coat them with half the lemon and honey mix, then out back in oven for a short while, till they get sticky. Take them out of the oven, pour the rest of the dressing over them, crumble the feta on top of them, and chopped herbs. Serve warm.

Monday, August 1, 2016

Home-made version of Scottish 'Cullen Skink'

David's Cullen Skink--with accompanying whisky!
The delicious fish soup known as 'Cullen Skink', which originates from the town of Cullen in Moray, on the north-east coast of Scotland, is deservedly famous for its hearty and satisfying mix of flavours. Traditionally, it's made with fresh and smoked haddock, potatoes and onions, but a very good version can be made with all kinds of tasty white fish, both fresh and smoked.
And that's exactly what David did recently, creating a delicious Aussie version of Cullen Skink, using, as a base, fresh leatherjacket and smoked cod. Because both fish are quite flaky, they work well in Cullen Skink. But you can choose any other kind of white fish, smoked and fresh.
His recipe is quite simple, but it's good to make the soup hours ahead of the time you plan to eat it, for the flavours to develop--even up to 24 hours (after making it, cool it and refrigerate it, of course)

Ingredients:
White fish--fresh, and smoked
Potatoes
Onions
White wine
Water
Salt, pepper
Parsley, chopped

Method:
Poach the fish for a few minutes in a mix of white wine and water, adding a little salt and pepper. When the fish is cooked, remove and put in a bowl ready to add later. Cook diced potatoes in the fish water.
Fry some chopped onions, add a little parsley, then set aside.
When potatoes are cooked, add the onions, the rest of the parsley, and fish back to the stock. Add a little more white wine/water mix, if necessary. Check seasoning. Stir and let simmer for a few minutes, till everything is well mixed, but do not let it cook so much that the fish starts disintegrating! Turn the heat off and let the soup sit for a while--even for a few hours.
Cullen skink makes a great one-pot dish: and goes well with some good whisky!