What Katie Ate

Photo submissions required ~ Americana Theme

2012-01-30T20:59:00.001+11:00

Howdy!

I am planning a new 'Feature' blog post which will go live in a couple of weeks ~ rest assured, other bits and pieces in-between now and then :)

I am looking for good photo submissions which give a great, atmospheric representation of the U.S. (Coney Island shots in particular I am looking for), along with classic diner style pics, West coast Cali lifestyle, Chi-town pizzas, NYC (anything), deep South, West coast desert shots, US cityscape shots and such, etc. etc. etc. basically everything and anything, all considered, the food and recipes I will be including will be varied from all over the U.S. so the more pics I have the better.

I would like them to sit alongside the recipes and the overall photo editorial I am planning, which is all about classic American food/Americana ~ with a retro feel. I will turn the piece into a downloadable Magazine style doc too a little similar to the WKa Xmas post from 2010 (albeit not 'quite' so mammoth!)

All photographs will be fully credited with the photographer's name and link/website details etc. I can't guarantee all submissions will be used, but I'll do my best to make them fit within the story.

Mail to send initial low res pics (no larger than A6 @ 72 dpi) = studio@katiequinndavies.com.au

Thanks so much.

Stéphane Raynaud's Barbecue review and giveaway.

2012-01-28T21:00:00.004+11:00

All images © Marie-Pierre Morel. Barbecue published by Murdoch Books, Australia

I'm a bit of a nut when it comes to cookbooks, I have tonnes of them all piled up on a massive bookshelf in my sitting room, but however in all honesty… some of them I rarely open… if ever at all. I do love nothing more than standing in my favourite book shop leafing through whatever new publications catches my eye and in turn adding to my ever growing collection, but half the time I buy them, I honestly often just stick them on the shelf and they rarely get a second look...

I adore books and spend most of my spare cash on cookbooks, photography books, design books and music biographies/coffee table photo books. Let's face it, a lot of us buy cookbooks in particular for the pretty (food 'porn') pictures, well I do anyway, I'll admit it. Unless one initially really tickles my fancy on the recipe front, I generally buy them to check out my competition in the food photography world and now on the author front* (*Note: I am still finding this notion a tad bizarre – it's great… actually strike that, without a doubt it utterly fantastic to me, but still a bit surreal, I think it always will be as it really only seems like yesterday I was sitting in front of a mac in a design studio working on logos…!).

Out of the 300 or so + cookbooks piling my shelves, there are about 20 I return to over and over when pondering what to cook for a dinner party or such. Obviously there are ones which stand out from the crowd for me: 'Cooking for Friends' by Gordon Ramsay springs first to mind, whilst the recipes are great and I've cooked often from this book, it's the unsurpassed Ditte Isager's photography that causes the stir in this book for me personally, she's one of my most admired photographers. Others are anything really from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall; Heston Blumenthal; Jamie Oliver; Stephanie Alexander; Ferran Adriá, Neil Perry and the author who brings me to the purpose of this post; Stéphane Reynaud.

I have all of the latter's cookbooks. I adore his rustic, real French cooking style. There is little pretence in his recipes and it's just honest, simple cooking. His books such as: Ripailles; Pork and Sons; Rôtis; 365 Good Reasons to Sit Down and Eat are always on my top 10 list. The design – or should I say more-so, the illustrations by José Reis de Matos, are so eye-catching and fun, and as long-standing lover of great pen and ink humorous illustrations, they make me adore these books even more, the dry humour is brilliant. I had thought for a long time to feature illustrations in my own cookbook, but realised too, it would be hard to beat Josés work for Reynaud (and more is the pity, I imagine would cost the earth too :(

My most recent cookbook purchase included Stephané Reynaud's 'Barbecue ~ 150 recipes for the barbecue. It's a wonderful celebration of all things grilled, seared and baked. With over 140 recipes irresistible recipes including tender cutlets, succulent roasts and ribs, as well as a selection of accompaniments, from minted grilled vegetables to a decadent baked Camembert, there’s a recipe for every barbecue get-together. Written in his well-known eccentric style, Stéphane never fails to entertain, and his passion for barbecuing is highly contagious.

'Barbecue's' photography is simple and to-the-point. I like it for the most part, the styling is similar in his other books and lets the food shine as the hero ~ something I lend to myself and prefer visually. In 'Barbecue' the ingredients are pared back to their very basics and personally I find some of the photography (about 5%) just a tad too simple, and dare I say *ducks for cover*, a teeny bit repetitive (aka the manner in which the fish dishes are represented) but overall it's really very pleasing on the eye, totally non-pretentious and fussy, simple, rustic and does make me want to have a bash at creating a lot of the dishes.

I cooked a few skewered recipes recently for my family before they returned to Ireland; Pineapple Chicken; Monkfish and Chorizo; Lamb, Cumin and Almonds and can report all were a winner with everyone who ate them (the Pineapple chicken came out no. 1). Very easy and quick to prepare, flavoursome and succulent.

Barbecue is currently available at Berkelow Books online.

On an end note, I'd be really keen to know what cookbooks past or present really positively stand out for readers of WKa and why? Or what books you dislike and again why? Is it the style of writing or photography good or bad. What elements are desired in a cookbook or what you'd like to see more of featured?

I'd love to hear feedback on your thoughts and in appreciation I have a copy of 'Barbeque' to give away. Just let me know below and I will do a 'name in the hat' draw in 2 week's time on Sat Feb 11th.

Cheers!
K

The Lodge Wine Bar, Balmain

2012-01-27T14:28:00.002+11:00

Always being one to lend the hand of support to young, independent and progressive businesses, I wanted to just quickly give a mention to this little wine bar which has recently opened in Balmain ~ The Lodge

I was introduced to this place via a friend (Hi Mel! :) who is a total expert wine buff. I headed down late last Saturday afternoon to try it out and was really impressed at the ambiance; friendliness of the staff; great service; range of wine and yummy tapas-style food offerings. It reminded me of some of the funky Melbourne Lane way-style bars I used to frequent when I lived in that part of the world a few years back.

We stayed for a bottle or two and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a cosy, atmospheric and funky bar in which to have a few tipples in the inner west.

Opening hours are: Mon - Sun 4pm to 10pm and The Lodge is located @ 3/415 Darling Street, Balmain, Sydney, 2041.

Happy Australia Day 2012! Brazilian style! :)

2012-01-25T22:29:00.181+11:00

Beef, Pork and Cheddar Cheese, Aussie Meat Pie

Rodrigo's do Vale's; Stuffed Eye Round

Frango con Quiabo e Angu ~ Chicken (cooked in Vinegar) with Ocra (and Green Chilli)

Claudio's Páo de Queijo ~ Cheese Bread

Empadinhas de Camarao ~ Brazilian Prawn Empanadas

Amanda Areias from the fantastic blog ‘Give me Flour’ was a angel and sent me a load of ideas for this Brazilian feature. One of the recipes she directed me towards was for these little pastry treats. Pastel de queijo are similar, small pockets of pastry generously filled with items such as; mozzarella, ground beef cooked with garlic and onions, shrimp/prawns, heart of palm. I decided to adapt a few recipes I received and made mine into spicy prawn versions.

Sopa de Batata-Doce ~ Sweet Potato Soup

Quindins de Yaya ~ Coconut and Orange Blossom Water Cakes with Orange Blossom Cream Cheese Frosting

(Cake flags from Nikole @ http://fortysixthatgrace.blogspot.com)

Batida de Café ~ Rum with iced coffee and Egg White

All photos © Katie Quinn Davies 2012

First off, what can only be said but: Happy Australia Day to all my Aussie friends and family and to all the Aussie readers of WKa be it here in Oz or anywhere around the world :)

Well it's been almost a month (eeek!) since my last main blog post, just before Xmas. I took a few weeks out in early January to spend time with my family - to be precise; my sister, her hubby Claudio and my gorgeous, wonderful niece Erika (almost 9). It was great having a chance to get to know Erika in particular as the last time I really saw her properly was 6 years ago when she was nearly 3 years of age (!) so as you can imagine, it was a great 'getting to know each other all over again' experience :)

Claudio Meneses, my brother-in-law is from Uberaba in Brazil and is a top bloke. I was hoping whilst they were all here that I might be able to get a blog post done with them all included, but alas sadly it wasn't to be, as ~ and I'll be honest here.. we were all having too much of a good time at the beach @ Bondi and Manly or up in Queensland to focus on anything other than sun, sea and sand, good food and cold beers! :)

It was great getting a few weeks away from the computer, the camera and cooking over a hot stove in the Sydney summer heat and in turn I had a wonderful time getting some well needed R and R over a week or two. I thought it would be a fun idea to get some recipes from Claudio and from my sis (who lived for years in Brazil) to feature on the blog and have also added to a few which were kindly sent to me by readers of WKa, so I've managed to compile a few ideas for this weeks post. All recipes I've adapted a little and I'm currently writing up all the recipes into one doc like I did with the Xmas post. I'll have it up tomorrow for you guys to download. I've been working on the blog all day today and yesterday (my first year not down the pub for Aussie day) so am off for a well earned cold beer (on this dreadfully humid yet very rainy Sydney day) I will be back in touch in a day or two with a little write up and some pics from a great new BBQ cookbook I recently purchased from the wonderful Stephane Reynaud.

x

Note - Layout of blog is going haywire at the moment.I have no iota how to fix it, pics aren't centering and generally being a pain in the bum! I am changing the platform of the blog in the coming weeks so stay tuned for a more co-operable site! Tks

Happy New Year... (3 weeks late eeek!)

2012-01-22T18:41:00.002+11:00

Happy New year all! (Ok that really is a tad late isn't it!?)

I do hope you all had a wonderful Xmas holiday period and New Year. I am just getting back into the swing of things after taking a few weeks off over early Jan to spend time with my family who visited from Ireland. They have now sadly gone home and I am currently juggling a lot of photo work and the What Katie ate book, which is now entering a very exciting phase: the design stage (!) After so many years working as a graphic designer I realised a few months ago it would be impossible for me not to design the book too (yes I am a total glutton for punishment!) so that's all ahead of me for the month of Feb along with some other great photo assignments.

I am currently working on a new blog post which I will be uploading this coming Wednesday eve, I had hoped to get it up last week but alas due to book editing commitments it turned out not to be. Anyway I just wanted to let you all know I haven't gone to Pluto, I will be back with some great recipes this week with a Brazilian flair!

Until Wednesday xx

A very Merry Christmas 2011!

2011-12-22T22:38:00.020+11:00

Katie's Beef Wellington

Roast Loin of Pork with Apple, Apricot and Pistachio Nut Stuffing

Creamy Pecorino and Parmesan Macaroni Bake with Salami, Roast Tomatoes and Chilli

Garlic Butter Roast Chicken with Lemon, Macadamia Nut and Bacon Stuffing

Roast Chicken with Mushroom, Walnut, White Truffle and Sausage Meat Stuffing

Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Parsnips with Nutmeg, Garlic and Honey

Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Broccolini, Bacon and Pine Nuts

Mum's Amazing Roast Potatoes.

Baby Yellow Squash with Chilli, Red Onion and Garlic Pangrattato

Baby Carrots with Fennel, Thyme, Honey and White Wine

Hot Smoked Salmon Paté; Peach, Apple, Chilli Chutney; Sour Rhubarb Paste for Cheese

A selection of cheese and meats given to me by the one and only, fab gourmand and all-round great guy Andy Arnfield of my fave Sydney foodie store; The Gourmet Grocer. Deservedly so, Andy's online business is doing a roaring trade, he'll deliver all or any of his shops products anywhere in Australia or further afield. Andy also stocks a full range of Phillippa's baked goods, this is a bakery based in Melbourne who recently sent me an amazing hamper choc-full of the most incredible baked Xmas goodies - mince pies, gingerbread, cakes and pies.

This year I'm stockpiling a few bottles of my fave Logan wines. I've loved this family-run, boutique winery (which are based in Mudgee, NSW using grapes grown in Orange, NSW) ever since I laid eyes on their amazingly designed labels and brand about 4 years ago (the design co. actually had each varieties leaves and flowers embroidered by hand and then photographed for the labels). Their varied wine range is superb and compliments any meal or food occasion. They have a wine club and you can order online.

Ali's Pavlova with Christmas Berries and White Chocolate Cream

Mini Raspberry and Chocolate Ganache Meringue Kisses

A great find for the warm Sydney Summer months (if it ever would arrive!!) - Pure Pops are a hand-crafted ice pop company based in Sydney. Supplying a great range of fun flavoured fruit popsicles and highlighting the best seasonal fresh fruit on offer, Pure Pops contain no artificial flavours, preservatives or stabilisers, resulting in a delicious pure icy treat and are a perfect addition to parties, weddings and special events, Pure Pops also offer customised flavours and popsicle sticks.

Homemade Granola Bars made with what is, without a doubt, THE best muesli on the Aussie market, I am eating this stuff by the bucket-load at the moment ~ The Unexpected Guest topped off with a thick layer of my new sweetie find and current addiction (not good for bikini season in Oz!) ~ Conscious Chocolate.

All images © Katie Quinn Davies 2011

Note: All recipes now up folks, in the above downloadable PDF document - I hope this works for everyone, I have never used this sort of embedded format before. I am having the blog totally re-designed in the new year and it will be massively more user-friendly and segmented into super easy t0 use and navigate 'chapters' and sections. Also I'll categorize and archive the recipes etc so it'll be like reading and viewing an online book so-to-speak. Tks K.

Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas! Hold that thought - where on earth has this year gone to?!? And more to the point where is Summer in Sydney???! For the first time in Oz I feel I'm back home in Ireland and having a cosy, heaters-and-jumpers-on-style Christmas... I really do hope the sun starts to shine and the temps start to rise as in exactly 7 sleeps time my sister, her hubby and their fab 8 year old daughter, my niece; Erika will be setting foot in Sydney ~ after the 1,867 hour flight from Ireland ;) I am really looking forward to their visit and taking a bit of time away including a week away in Queensland, from what has been a crazy hectic year for me work-wise and included a full-on, yet fully enjoyable few months of solidly working on my book. I can't believe it will be going to print in early April, then before we know it it'll be October and it'll be on sale!! Woohooo! :)

               I decided, due to not having a lot of free time to go mad, like I did last year with the massive 495 pager Xmas post (!?) to this year keep things a little more 'low-key'. I have included a few recipes which I often cook myself as these days I personally will rarely cook a massive turkey at Xmas, opting generally for other meats such as lamb or pork or sometimes just a really nice piece of fillet beef. Often at Xmas I love to organise a range of smaller plates which we'd graze on over the day as opposed to eat one huge meal.

               This year I will be spending Christmas Day with my husband Mick ~ just the two of us and I will cook a beautiful organic, free-range chicken stuffed with my Lemon, Macadamia Nut and Organic Boks bacon stuffing. The bird itself gets slathered all over in a fab garlic and lemon butter and I'll serve it with a load of super crunchy 'Mum's Roast Potatoes' and a few sides - all the recipes for which I've included in this post. For a casual lunch I'm going to cook up a few prawns from my last post in November as the great thing with these guys is you can cook them and they still taste great eaten hot or cold so again, a great one for nibbling on through-out the day so they too are great for a BBQ where you need to feed a load of people who are coming and going throughout the day.

               Dessert will be borrowed this year from my friend and co-worker Ali Irvine, Ali and I have worked together for the past year on Real Living Magazine. Ali ~ a freelance food editor is an amazing cook and has an incredible talent for pairing flavours. This month I asked her to supply me with a recipe for a good, easy and simple Xmas dessert and she's delivered a gem. This pavlova is fantastic and provided me with some of the best looking, plump and pillowy meringues I have every made. I gave it a test run this week and it was a fantastic success. I decided to turn the recipe into one large pavlova for the shoot, keep in mind you can easily make this as individual meringues as per Ali's recipe and I look forward to being able to prepare this dessert 90% on Xmas Eve leaving me with very little to do for sweets on the 25th.

               A few weeks ago I was sent a package in the post by a company in Bangalow in NSW ~ The Unexpected Guest is a company who specialise in producing two of the most amazing mueslis I have ever tasted. For breakfast, I am normally a toast and Vegemite and a mug of instant coffee sort of gal, but since Adam from the company sent me down a few bags of their product I am utterly hooked. Adam and his fiancee Juniper formed a boutique breakfast company focused on creating the most delicious breakfast experiences around. All their products are certified organic and use the best quality ingredients they can source. Adam sent me a granola style toasted muesli which is naturally sweetened and called: 'Granuesli' (seemingly Sanitarium trademarked granola in 1920!) and also a gluten free muesli which uses yummy maple roasted almonds along with a host of other fantastic ingredients. Adam and Juniper started the company two years ago in their kitchen in Bondi. Juniper is Canadian and had made the granola for years and through friends popping round and taking a bag home, orders started to flow and the word got out. It wasn't long before Juniper started producing to a number of retailers and cafe's within the Eastern suburbs of Sydney. They had always used organic ingredients but as the company grew they decided they wanted to certify the products and therefore started looking for a certified organic commercial kitchen which is what brought them to the north coast. Two years later they are now nationwide and servicing aprox 150 retailers.

               I really found this product top-notch and after munching on many bowls during shoots here at the studio over the past month, I figured it might be good to try out a recipe for homemade granola bars which I could take on location shoots to beat the munchies. So I used the Granuesli (which is crunchy and crisp) and mixed it with the gluten free muesli, combined the two with organic Aussie honey and topped the lot off with a good dollop of melted chocolate - in this case with a few bars of melted 'Conscious Chocolate' - which is a recent find of mine and my new addiction for late night sugar cravings... although in this case it is actually sugar-free as they use 'agave nectar'. The bars have a crumblier, softer ~ almost silky and fudge-like. Flavour-wise it is really well balanced between sweet and bitter and overall just tastes really clean and very good quality. Also you find - even with only 6 little squares per bar, you'll eat maybe max. 2 squares and feel you've had enough and it's a case more-so of less is more, quality over quantity etc... If you are living in Oz Conscious Choc. will deliver Nationwide.

               On a final note, I was pondering a few weeks or so ago about what I would cook for the Xmas post and when on one of my trips to the supermarket, I wondered how much the post would cost me all up for groceries. It got me thinking about the unfortunate and at times, inevitable amount of waste which happens at food shoots. I try to use the food after the shoots where I can, and or use food to share with friends/dinner parties etc., but unfortunately in this photo business when it comes to food, some of it does get thrown in the bin at the end of the shoot due to over handling and such. This year I felt it a good idea to cut back on the amount of recipes I was planning to feature and instead of going OTT with a load of ideas, to take a few hundred dollars from the blog food budget and give it to a homeless shelter here in Sydney and also to the RSPCA ~ both these organisations and charities need all the support they can year-round, however it is always especially hard for them at this time of the year and they are two organisations I always like to give to when I can.

               Uncannily this brings me to another company I stumbled across a few days ago - run by an Aussie DJ Ben Korbel, The Philanthropic Foodie is an innovative philanthropic think tank based in Sydney. They conjure creative ways to embrace inspired culture while raising awareness and funds for community minded projects. Their maiden voyage fuses Sydney’s cult food personalities and establishments with Australian Of the Year nominee Father Chris Riley’s Youth Off The Streets. The coolest gift this Summer, The Philanthropic Foodie's inimitable offering sources products from only award winning cult Sydney restaurants, delis and bakeries, not traditionally available in hamper format. These brands include Bourke Street Bakery, Christine Manfield, Gelato Messina, Simon Johnson, Campos and more. Their vision is to simply offer inspiring products, value for money and a karmic offset by donating all profits to Sydney charity Youth Off The Streets. What with Summer now here (almost!) and all the various outdoor Sydney Summer activities like the outdoor cinema, NYE picnics etc this is great, conscious-lead company to grab a hamper or picnic full of foodie goodies - starting from $75, they will also courier Nationwide.

               I will end by wishing everyone a very, very Merry Christmas and wonderful New Year. Thank you again for all the amazing support over the past 12 months and for following of What Katie ate in 2012. I look forward to, and wish you all a jam-packed, super happy, prosperous, productive and successful 2012.

Katie :-) x

Tapas-style foodie ideas...

2011-11-30T16:59:00.041+11:00

Lamb with beer and roasted garlic

- - - - - - - -

12-16 French-trimmed organic lamb cutlets
8 large cloves garlic
2 standard bottles ale/lager
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A few fresh thyme sprigs
Olive of for frying

- - - - - - - -

Preheat oven to 180˚C (350˚F).
Place garlic cloves onto a small baking tray and roast in the oven for 30 minutes or until soft on the inside (test with a small, sharp knife) remove and allow to cool then squeeze out pulp and discard outer paper.

Heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the lamb cutlets in batches and cook for a few minutes only to brown the outside of the meat. Remove from the pan.

Pour beer into a roasting dish – large enough to hold all cutlets (not overlapping) comfortably. Add the roasted garlic pulp and mash into the beer using a fork. Season well with salt and black pepper then add in leaves from a few thyme sprigs.

Place lamb cutlets into the beer/garlic marinade and coat meat thoroughly. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes of until cooked as per your liking (I tend to opt for just medium rare with lamb). Serve hot with any excess roasting sauce, an extra seasoning of salt and pepper and a scattering of extra thyme leaves.

Serves 3-4

Sizzling prawns with garlic, chilli and lime

- - - - - - - -

6 cloves garlic, minced
Juice & zest 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1/3 cup EVOO
Salt and freshly ground blackPepper
500g green prawns
2 cups chicken stock (or use fish is you don't eat chicken)
Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
Handful fresh, flat-leaf/continental parsley, roughly chopped
Extra lime wedges for serving

- - - - - - - -

To clean and prepare the prawns; remove heads and legs, peel off shell to just before the tail - leaving the latter on the prawn. Add all heads and shells into a medium-sized pot. Cover with 2 cups stock, season with black pepper and bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Drain stock into a bowl and discard heads and shells.

Using a small, sharp knife, cut a groove all along the back of the prawn, remove the 'poop shoot' and any excess membrane, repeating process with all prawns.

Add garlic, lime zest and juice, paprika, chilli flakes and EVOO into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add the prawns to the bowl and coat thoroughly in the marinade. Season well with crushed sea salt flakes and black pepper. Chill in the fridge for 15-30 minutes.

Remove prawns from fridge and separate from stock using a strainer - retaining both liquid and shellfish. Place a heavy cast iron frying pan (or individual heat-proof tapas bowls) over a gas burner on top of your stove, add the marinade (retaining a little of the pulp for later when you'll spoon it over the prawns just before serving) and bring to a boil over high heat. Add 1/2 cup (or a few ladlefuls) of the fish stock and stir to combine then add in the prawns and cook over high heat for 5-10 minutes or until cooked through. Let them bubble and boil away.

Just before serving, add any remaining marinade to the tops of the prawns and an extra spoonful of stock, then scatter with a handful of chopped parsley.

Serve bubbling hot with extra lime wedges and lots of crusty bread.

Serves 2-4

Spicy Chorizo, red capsicum, tomato and mixed bean stew

A great winter warmer or summery dinner-for-friends/mid-week recipe
which can be made a day in advance.

- - - - - - - -

2 mild chorizo sausages, sliced into thin rounds
3-4 large truss tomatoes, halved
2-3 long red peppers/red capsicums, stalk, membrane and seeds removed, cut in half lenghtways
1 brown onion, finely diced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
400g tinned, chopped tomatoes
400g tinned borlotti beans
400g tinned chickpeas
400g tinned cannellini beans
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 cup dry white wine
Handful fresh flat leaf/continental parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

- - - - - - - -

Pre-heat oven to 180˚C (350˚F)

Place capsicums and tomatoes cut-side up onto two separate baking trays, drizzle both with a little olive oil, season tomatoes with a little salt and black pepper and roast both items in the oven for 40-50 minutes. Remove from oven and chop both capsicums and tomatoes into large chunks.

In a large heavy-based French-one/casserole pot, add a tablespoon or two of olive oil and warm over medium heat. Add the sliced chorizo and fry until crispy and caramelised around the edges. Using a slotted spoon remove chorizo and drain on paper towel.

Into the chorizo oil remaining in the pot, add the onion and garlic and fry over low-medium heat for 5 minutes before adding the roasted tomatoes, capsicums, tinned tomatoes, 3 bean vatieties, paprika and wine. Season well with salt and black pepper then add the chorizo. Stir all together and cook over low-medium heat for 30-40 mins until thickened slightly. If you want, you can add a little water at any stage if you think the mixture is getting too thick.

Serve warm in bowls with a scattering of chopped fresh parsley.

Serves 4

Olive oil roasted tomatoes with Manchego and basil

- - - - - - - -

6-8 large Truss tomatoes
Handful fresh basil leaves
Light olive oil
1 cups Manchego cheese, grated, plus extra for serving
Sea salt flakes & freshly ground black pepper

- - - - - - - -

Pre-heat oven to 120˚C (248˚F)

Cut tomatoes in half widthways and place 3-4 halves cut-side up into each tapas dish (you'll need 4 individual dishes or 1 large one).

Over each dish of tomatoes pour 1/3 cup olive oil and season tomato tops very well with crushed sea salt flakes and a decent amount of black pepper, place 3 or 4 large basil leaves around the tomatoes sinking them into the oil.
Roast tomatoes for 1.5 hours in the pre-heated oven until soft, remove and sprinkle tops with 1/4 cup grated Manchego per dish then return to the oven for 10 minutes.
Serve piping hot with extra grated Manchego, fresh basil leaves and crusty, grilled bread.

They pair excellently with a good, aged Parma ham and also with the Patatas Bravas recipe below.

Serves 4

Italian sausage with red grape, Parmesan pangrattato

- - - - - - - -

5-6 thin Italian sausages, cut into 1.5cm (just over 1/2") pieces
1 cup baby red seedless grapes
1 large brown onion, peeled
1/2 bottle dry white wine
Fresh thyme
1/2 cup white breadcrumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Sea salt flakes & freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil

- - - - - - - -

Pre-heat oven to 180˚C (350˚F)

Cut onion into quarters length-ways, then slice each quarter again in half length-ways (basically you end up splitting the onion into 1/8's lengthways).

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large, deep saucepan over medium heat. Add the sausage pieces and fry for 5-10 minutes until lightly golden brown.

Remove sausage from the pan. Add the onion to the frying pan and cook for 5 minutes until soft, then add the sausages back in along with a good glug of white wine and the leaves from a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Continue to cook the sausage and onion over medium-high heat adding another splash of white wine as you go. Keep tossing everything in the pan until caramelised and golden. Divide contents equally between 4 tapas bowls. Season with salt and black pepper.

Return pan to heat and add a final glug of white wine to deglaze and loosen up any good bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Simmer for a minute or so then drizzle liquid over the sausage in the cooking dishes. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.

While sausage is roasting, to make the Pangrattato; using the same frying pan add the breadcrumbs a few more thyme leaves and fry gently, stirring often, over low-medium heat until golden brown. Remove pan from heat, add 3/4 the Parmesan and mix.

Remove sausage from oven and sprinkle tops with Pangrattato and then the remaining grated parmesan. Grill under a hot oven until golden brown. Serve warm.

Serves 4

Salt and pepper quail with plum, sage and Parma ham, plum and red wine dipping sauce

- - - - - - - -

8 quails
8 slices Parma ham
6 large black plums, cut into wedges (you should get about 8 per plum)
Handful fresh sage leaves
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon crushed sea salt flakes
1 cup red wine
2 tablespoons soft brown sugar
Knob or two unsalted butter
Olive oil

- - - - - - - -

Pre-heat oven to 180˚C (350˚F)

To prepare quails, using a sharp knife cut away legs from quail and place into a bowl. Cut along each side of the backbone to remove breast from bird keeping skin on. Repeat with all quails. Discard excess quail or retain and use to make a stock (optional).

Place salt flakes and ground pepper into a small container or jar and shake to combine. Scatter onto a dinner plate.

Add a little olive oil into the palms of your hands and rub over the quail breast skin and quail legs. Lay quail breasts, skin side down onto salt/pepper combo on the plate and gently press down to coat skin. Add remaining salt/pepper into bowl containing the quail legs and toss to coat.

Heat a tablespoon olive oil and a knob of butter in a frying pan and fry quail breasts - again skin side down, for a minute or two until golden brown. Repeat with quail legs but toss in the pan until fully cooked - adding an extra knob or two of butter if you wish.

Lay each slice of Parma ham on a clean surface and slice down the centre lengthways to from two pieces per slice. To wrap each piece; place one ham strip facing vertically away from you, add a quail beast to the start of the ham slice, top with 1 sage leaf and a piece of plum (I used about 2 plums in total for this stage leaving 4 for the sauce) then roll all together, secure with a cocktail stick or wooden pick (Note* - soak the wooden picks in water for an hour or so before using to avoid them burning in the oven). Repeat with all quail breasts and place in a large baking tray. Roast in the hot, pre-heated oven for 20 minutes or until quail is cooked through.

While the quail is cooking you can make the dipping sauce. To do so place the remaining plum quarters into a saucepan along with the wine and brown sugar and bring to a boil before simmering until thick (about 15-20 mins) before adding into a blender jug and whizzing to a smooth sauce. Return to the saucepan, add a knob of butter (this will make the sauce glossy), season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve hot as an accompanying dipping sauce for the quail.

Makes 16 canapés

Cherry Amaretto clafoutis

- - - - - - - -
3 large handfuls fresh cherries, pitted

1/3 cup ground almonds, sieved
1/3 cup caster sugar
165ml milk
1.5 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur
2 eggs
1/2 cup flaked almonds

- - - - - - - -

Pre-heat oven to 180˚C (350˚F)

Grease a 20cm (8") deep baking dish, into which add all the pitted cherries (retain a few if you like to stick into the top of the clafoutis half-way through cooking).

Add ground almonds and caster sugar into a mixing bowl, combine. Crack eggs into a jug and whisk then add the milk and Amaretto. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Pour batter over the cherries and scatter the top with flaked almonds.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until the filling is set. Serve warm with a dusting of icing sugar and whipped cream (optional).

Note: The recipe is adapted from Taste.com.au.
Original recipe can be found here

Serves 4-6

Katie's Patatas Bravas with ham and eggs

- - - - - - - -

6 large waxy potatoes, peeled and rinsed
2 large red chillis (mild-medium heat), finely sliced
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
Leaves from 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
2/3 cup olive oil, plus extra for frying
8 slices, good quality Parma ham
4 large, free-range, organic eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- - - - - - - -

Cut potatoes into quarters length-ways, then cut into large, equal-sized chunks. Half-fill a large pot with salted water and cook potatoes over high heat until just soft in the centre. Drain and set aside.

In a mixing bowl add olive oil, sliced chilli, paprika, thyme leaves, a pinch salt and lots of black pepper. Mix together.

Heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a large frying pan. Add potatoes in two batches and fry until lightly golden and crispy on the outside. Repeat with the remaining potatoes then add all potatoes back into the pan and coat liberally in the paprika/oil mixture. Fry for an extra minute or two then turn off heat. Set aside.

Place Parma ham on a baking sheet lined with aluminium foil and cook for 5 minutes under a hot grill until crispy.

Generously grease the insides for 4 individual heat-proof tapas bowls with olive oil. Line the edges of the tapas bowls with 2 slices each of grilled ham. Equally divide the potatoes between the bowls making sure to place them around the edges leaving a void in the centre of each dish to hold the egg.

Crack an egg into the centre of each dish then place onto a trivet which in turn is placed over a gas burner/electric plate set on medium-high. Fry until egg white is cooked through - be really careful as the dishes will be utterly volcanic in temperature, so do really take care with your hands and serve dishes on a heat-proof board or plate.

Serve piping hot (which won't be hard as they stay hot for ages), seasoned with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper, with fresh bread to soak up the egg yolk.

Note - this dish can be made without the ham and eggs, simply just fry the potatoes a little longer in the pan once you add the paprika and oil mix and then serve them warm in a big serving bowl for guests to help themselves.

Serves 4

All images © Katie Quinn Davies 2011

- - - - - - - -

A few weeks ago I was kindly given a gorgeous surprise gift of 4 black terracotta tapas plates. I've always been a huge fan of tapas, probably as I'm a bit of a 'grazer', preferring meals which consist of lots of smaller, flavour-packed portions as opposed to one big dish. I also love the sharing aspect and it's always a winner with a group of mates.

The weather in Sydney is so all over the shop at the moment and has been for the past 2 weeks and it has included rain by the bucket loads, which at times has made for a rather gloomy atmosphere in the house and studio (great for my gardenias and Hydrangeas however! Woohoo! :) So I thought what better an idea than to try out a few tapas recipes for the blog...

And what a success! They worked a treat, in particular the prawns, quail (FYI Note* a great idea for party canapés) and spicy potatoes (great as tapas but also a super brekkie recipe). The prawns, holy moly those prawns, were out-of-this-world amazing... (!!) Juicy; salty; garlicky; sour; spicy; fab! Really simple too and pretty quick and hassle-free. Not only could you serve them as a tapas dish - but these would make a fantastic BBQ dish, or at least an accompaniment at a BBQ so you could, rather than cook them in individual dishes, muster up a big wok-full of them and serve them hot with fresh crusty bread and lots of chilled white wine or sparkling... I know I will most definitely be making a few batches over the silly season (or when this weather decides to behave like 'normal and proper early Summer Sydney' weather (!) They would also make for a great dinner party starter in the warmer months or over Christmas in chillier climates.

Another reason I went down a tapas route this week was especially so as I enjoyed some superb tapas-style food last weekend at The Four in Hand pub in Paddington which is an award-winning, 2-hatted gastropub and adjoining restaurant run by Head chef and Dublin-born; Colin Fassnidge.

There we all shared a range of tasting plates including: Roast Bone Marrow With Celeriac Remoulade; Spanish Sardines & Tomato Sauce With Grilled Bread and in particular I had an amazing dish of oven-roasted truss tomatoes with Manchego = wow! and what a treat when paired with the pub's incredible aged 18 month Prosciutto - I can only imagine gobbling this up to Sunday brekkie along with a good sourdough and some of the spicy potatoes and egg (latter optional) above... I don't know the actual recipe for this tomato dish but I gave it a whack myself at home during the week and the results were pretty impressive :)

Moving onto quail.. there's nothing better than pairing game birds with fruit and now that plums and such are in season in Oz, I grabbed a few and combined the two with bacon (everything tastes better with bacon right?!) ~ or at least with a good-quality Parma ham. these are a super idea for canapés for a Christmas party - all the ingredients are very festive: Quail, plum, sage, ham and of course a good glug of hearty red wine in the dipping sauce. There is a wonderful balance of taste sensations from the salt and pepper seasoning which is contrasted by the sour fruit, piquant sauce and again lightly salty ham wrapping everything together. A definite winner for me and again, on my 'to-make' list for Christmas eve drinks.

I can't believe tomorrow is December 1st ~ this year has flown by but the official countdown to Christmas has begun (Wayhey!!) My Christmas tree is up (I know - tres embarrassing that I put it up before Dec 1st - blame the gloomy horrible aforementioned weather and the need for a mid-week pick me up - which worked a treat I might add! :) So with a few more shoots to complete before the big day, I am off like "a bucket of prawns in the sun" (as they say here in Oz LOL) to get cracking on ideas for the next and in turn Xmas blog post (note ~ it won't be as big as last years mammoth adventure but I'll muster up something fun :)

X

Mid November goodies

2011-11-15T23:07:00.015+11:00

Katie's quick Shepherd's pie with roasted garlic cheesy mash

- - - - - - - -

600g lean organic beef mince (ground beef)

1 brown onion, finely diced

3 large cloves garlic, minced

2 cups beef or chicken stock

1½ tablespoons tomato paste

1/3 cup Worcester sauce

3 tablespoons HP sauce

3 tablespoons BBQ sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

4 sprigs fresh thyme leaves

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Olive or canola oil for frying

For the topping:
3 large cloves garlic, whole, skin on

5 evenly-sized large floury potatoes, peeled, washed and cut into halves

2 tablespoons Natural Greek yoghurt

1/3 cup milk

50g Parmesan, finely grated

A few extra fresh thyme sprigs

Extra Parmesan for topping and serving

- - - - - - - -

Preheat oven to 180˚C (350˚F).

Place garlic cloves onto a small baking tray and roast in the oven for 30 minutes or until soft on the inside (test with a small , sharp knife) remove and allow to cool then squeeze out pulp and discard outer paper.

Fill a medium-large pot half-full with cold water, add a good pinch of salt then add in the halved potatoes. Bring to the boil over high heat then reduce heat to medium-high and cook at a high simmer until potatoes as fully soft in the middle when tested with a knife. Note: to ensure really creamy mash, always make sure your potatoes are thoroughly cooked, if they remain even ever so slightly firm in the middle you’ll never get them smooth, as you’ll just end up with tiny lumps dotted throughout the mash.

Drain potatoes, tip them back into the pot and using a potato masher, break up the cooked potatoes, then pass through a Tamil sieve or the finest setting on a potato ricer until totally smooth. Add in the milk, yoghurt, cooled roasted garlic pulp, and grated Parmesan and whip together to combine thoroughly along with a very good seasoning of salt and black pepper. Transfer to a large piping bag fitted with a star-shaped nozzle (the one I used measured 1cm/0.4”) and set aside until required.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large, deep frying pan or saucepan. Add the onion and fry gently for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and continue to sauté over medium heat for a further 5-7 minutes before adding in the beef, break the mince up using the end of a spatula and combine all together. Fry until meat has browned then add the stock; tomato paste; HP sauce; Worcester sauce, fresh thyme leaves and stir all together. Cook for 30-40 minutes to infuse all flavours together and sauce has thickened. Fill baking dishes (this quantity will fill a single dish measuring 24 x 18cm/7 x 9.5” or 4 smaller 10cm/4” ramekin-style pots).

Pipe mashed potato onto top of meat filling, sprinkle with a little extra grated Parmesan, a seasoning of black pepper and a garnish of a fresh thyme sprig, then bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes or until top of piped potato is golden brown.

Serve hot with extra grated Parmesan (optional).

Serves 4

BBQ sweetcorn with Harissa spiced chicken and toasted Quinoa salad with marjoram and lemon, lemon yoghurt dressing.

- - - - - - - -

1 cup quinoa

3 fresh sweetcorn cobs (use frozen if you wish)
12-16 baby Roma tomatoes
1 large (or 2 small) chicken breast, sliced into thin strips
1-1.5 teaspoons harissa paste
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoons smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Handful flaked almonds
Handful fresh basil leaves
A few sprigs fresh marjoram

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil

For the dressing:
1/2 cup natural organic yoghurt
Juice 1 lemon
1 tablespoon EVVO
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra lemon wedges for serving (optional)

- - - - - - - -

Preheat oven to 180˚C (350˚F).

Place quinoa into a medium-sized pot and cover with 3 cups of cold water. Bring to the boil over high heat then reduce to medium and simmer for 20 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed.
Drain and set aside.

Into a medium-sized mixing bowl, add the harissa paste, juice of 1 lemon, 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt and black pepper to taste, whisk together then add the thinly sliced chicken, stir to coat in marinade, cover bowl with cling wrap then transfer to the fridge for 30-60 minutes.

Add 1 tablespoon olive oil into a large frying pan, warm over medium-heat then add the marinated chicken, fry gently until cooked through.

Turn cooled quinoa out onto a large, non-stick metal baking tray. In a small bowl combine paprika and cayenne pepper then sprinkle evenly all over quinoa, toss all together thoroughly. Sprinkle flaked almonds on top and again toss together to combine. Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until quinoa is golden and toasted. Remove from oven, combine with spiced chicken then turn out into a serving bowl or platter.
Scatter with fresh baby basil leaves, a few marjoram leaves and serve warm with lemon yoghurt dressing.

To make the dressing; combine all ingredients together and serve chilled with warm salad.

Serves 8 as a side, 4 as a main lunch.

Rhubarb, peach & raspberry blueberry muffin pie with vanilla almond crumble

- - - - - - - -

1/2 cup slivered almonds
3 tablespoons caster sugar
1 large/2 small bakery-bought blueberry muffin, crumbled into small pieces
2 ripe yellow peaches, stone removed & flesh cubed
Handful fresh blueberries*
1 cup raspberries* (*use fresh if you can but frozen is fine)
5-6 stalks fresh rhubarb
3/4 cup plain flour, sifted
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup chilled butter, cubed

- - - - - - - -

Preheat oven to 180˚C (350˚F).

Place slivered almonds on a baking tray, sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of caster sugar and roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden and caramelised, remove and place half the almonds (setting the remaining half aside) in a food processor and grind down to a fine/sandy texture.

Add sifted flour into a mixing bowl, using your hands rub in chilled butter until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs then stir in the sugar and ground almonds.

Place rhubarb into a bowl and coat with remaining 2 tablespoons of caster sugar, turn out into a baking dish, top with the cubed peaches and raspberries then scatter the crumbled muffin on top followed by a handful or two of crumble mix (depending on personal pref.) finally sprinkle top with the blueberries and remaining roasted slivered almonds.

Bake for 40 minutes or until top if golden brown and fruit in the bottom cooked (use a skewer to test).

Serve warm with vanilla cream.

Serves 4-6.

Rhubarb, Mascarpone and hazelnut tartlets

- - - - - - - -

1/4 cup plain flour
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
50g hazelnuts
3 heaped tablespoons mascarpone cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
2 teaspoons Frangelico liqueur
8 stalks fresh rhubarb, chopped into 2.5cm/1" pieces
3 tablespoons caster sugar
Pre-rolled vanilla bean/sweet shortcrust pastry

- - - - - - - -

Pre-heat oven to 200˚C (392˚F).

Butter 4 individual non-stick tartlet tins (the ones I used measured 12.7cm/5" round) and line with pre-rolled pastry. Place a small sheet of non-stick baking parchment into each then fill with baking beads or something heavy like rice or coins and blind-bake for 15 minutes in pre-heated oven before removing paper/rice etc. then baking for a further 5 minutes. Remove pastry cases from oven and allow to cool slightly.

Scatter hazelnuts onto a baking tray and toast for 10-15 minutes then remove from oven and blitz to a fine/medium sandy texture in a food processor, or chop by hand.

Combine flour, brown sugar, Mascarpone, vanilla bean paste, and Frangelico along with the ground hazelnuts in a bowl and stir thoroughly to combine into a thick paste.

Place chopped rhubarb and caster sugar into a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and strain juices into a bowl through a strainer, retaining both stewed fruit and liquid. Return the latter to the pan and continue simmer over medium-high heat until reduced by 3/4 and you are left with a very thick, glossy syrup.

Spoon a heaped tablespoon of hazelnut paste into each tartlet case and smooth over base, repeat with other cases and paste then top with stewed rhubarb.
Bake for 30 minutes or until pastry is golden and rhubarb fully cooked.

To serve brush top of tartlets with reduced rhubarb syrup and serve warm with cream.

Serves 4.

Blood orange, mango and peach granita

- - - - - - - -

1 mango, peeled, flesh cut into round pieces
3 ripe yellow peaches, stone removed, cut into chunks
2 cups fresh blood orange juice
Juice 1 lemon

- - - - - - - -

Add all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and whizz until smooth. Hold a sieve over a deep baking tray (the one I used measured 42 x 30cm/16.5 x 29" ~ so use one in or around these dimensions). Pour the granita liquid through the sieve into the tray pressing as much of the pulp through as you can, discard whatever final bits which won't pass through then carefully transfer the filled tray into a flat shelf in the freezer. Freeze for 2-3 hours or until required then scrape into fluffy granita snow using a fork or two.

Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Roast almond, peanut and pistachio cranberry nut brittle

- - - - - - - -

100g butter
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup golden syrup
2 teaspoons Frangelico liqueur
2/3 cup plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted, roasted peanuts
1/2 cup pistachios, shelled
1/2 cup whole roasted almonds
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Pinch sea salt flakes

- - - - - - - -

Pre-heat oven to 180˚C (350˚F).
Line a large baking sheet with non-stick baking parchment.

Into a medium-sized saucepan add the butter, sugar and golden syrup. Bring to the boil over high heat then reduce to medium/low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat then add the flour and baking powder stirring all well to combine.

Into the hot mixture add all the remaining ingredients, mix then pour out onto preprepared baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes until dark golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. You'll notice the outside of the brittle will harden first leaving the centre part softer. Break off the hardened edges and set these aside then return the softer middle part to the oven for a further 10 minutes. remove and allow to cool thoroughly.

To serve, smash the brittle into small pieces and place in serving bowls (great for after dinner nibbles with coffee) or place into clear cellophane gift bags, close bag with ribbon or twine and use as homemade Xmas pressies :)

Chocolate cinnamon teacakes

- - - - - - - -

200g unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

2 free-range eggs

1.5 cups self-raising flour

1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice

2.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 cup vanilla yoghurt
70g good quality dark chocolate (60% cocoa solids min.)

1/4 cup Icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon extra ground cinnamon for dusting

- - - - - - - -

Preheat oven to 180˚C (350˚F). Butter liberally 6 mini Bundt cake tins.

Fill a small saucepan 1/3 full with cold water then place over a low heat. Place a heatproof bowl on top of the pan into which add the chocolate and warm until melted, stirring occasionally. Once fully melted, remove bowl from pot and set aside to cool a little.

Into the bowl of a stand mixer, add the softened butter, vanilla bean paste and caster sugar and beat on medium speed using the paddle attachment for 10 minutes until really light and fluffy. Add the eggs in one at a time, beating after each addition then continue to beat for another 5-6 minutes. Note: Don't worry if the mixture resembles scrambled eggs when you add the eggs ~ that's perfectly normal and it will smooth out/become less lumpy as you beat.

Turn off the mixer, remove the bowl then sieve in the flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, mixed spice and cocoa. Return to the mixer and continue to beat (use a slow setting at first or the dry ingredients will fly everywhere!). Whilst contents are mixing add in the cooled melted chocolate and yoghurt and beat for a final 2 minutes.

Pour mixture into preprepared individual cake tins and bake for 50 minutes or until the middle of the cakes are cooked through ~ test using a skewer.

Remove from oven, allow to cool then turn out onto a wire rack. Combine icing sugar with extra ground cinnamon and dust over cakes.

Serves 6-8 depending on cake tins.

All above images © Katie Quinn Davies 2011

- - - - - - - -

All recipes up now, thanks for your patience :)

A full on week for me, 4 editorial shoots in the past 6 days and 3 more to come before Sunday *eeek!* so keeping this little update on the shorter side for the mo. but all good and it's great to be able to get some time again to dedicate to the blog ~ am loving getting back into WKa :)

I am planning to do something special for Christmas again on the blog ~ grabbing every spare second I can here and there in-between jobs from now until mid-December. It won't be as mammoth a venture as last years gargantuan post (!) but am hoping to still deliver something as special, but different. So stay tuned on that front...

Finally Sydney is starting to see a bit warmer weather (hello - as one would expect in mid Nov!?!!) it's now shorts and t-shirt weather for us here (even though it is now bucketing rain at the mo. ...) yet for some reason I chose to go down a route of mustering up some recipes mainly in part for chillier climes/cosy scenarios.

But Southern hemisphere readers, hang on to your mozzie spray, BBQ's and sunscreen, I'll be back early next week with a total flip and feature some lighter, Summery ideas as well as a few pre-Christmas recipes and gift ideas.

X

Back to the regular swing of things :)

2011-10-31T20:56:00.007+11:00

Pearl barley and puy lentil salad with roasted heirloom baby tomatoes,

chorizo, green beans and baby radish

- - - - - - - -

1 cup pear barley

1 cup puy (or French) lentils

Large handful heirloom baby tomatoes

Handful green beans

Handful baby radish, thinly sliced

2 medium-sized whole chorizo sausage

Juice 2 lemons

Olive oil & EVOO

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Extra lemon wedges to serve
Baby basil leaves

- - - - - - - -

Pre-heat oven to 140˚C (280˚F)

Slice baby tomatoes in half, drizzle with a little olive oil and slow roast in the oven for 1.5 hours until caramelised. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Bring a small pot of water to the boil then add in the green beans, simmer over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes, then remove beans and plunge into a bowl of iced water. Slice beans into very fine slices.

To cook the pearl barley, add to a saucepan and cover with 3 cups cold water, bring to a boil then simmer very gently for 35 minutes, drain and rinse in cold water, set aside to cool. Whisk up juice of 1 lemon, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and some black pepper and pour over barley, stir to coat and set aside.

At the same time the barley is cooking, add lentils into a small pot and cover with 3 cups or cold water, bring to the boil over medium-high heat then turn down temp to very low and simmer for 25 minutes until cooked – test a spoonful and they should be slightly softened, yet still al dente and nutty in texture. Drain in a colander or strainer and run under cold water to rinse, add to the drained and dressed pearl barley.

Into a saucepan add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and warm over medium heat. Add the sliced chorizo and pan-fry for 10 minutes until golden, crispy and cooked through. Using a slotted spoon, remove chorizo from pan and drain on paper towel. Add the juice of remaining lemon to the chorizo oil and stir to combine. Heat for a moment or two then pour all over the pearl barley and lentils then add the sliced green beans and radish along with the cooked chorizo and stir all together to combine. Turn out onto a serving platter, scatter with poppy seeds and serve with extra fresh lemon wedges and a scattering of baby basil leaves.

Serves 4

Note - this dish can be made into a vegetarian option by removing the chorizo and replacing with feta or pan-fried haloumi. For a vegan dish, just remove the meat from the original above recipe and maybe add a few roasted cashews for extra texture.

Creamy, cheesy chilli tomato rigatoni with

salami, chestnut mushrooms

- - - - - - - -

500g dried rigatoni pasta

1 brown onion, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

200g mild salami, torn into small chunks

175g chestnut mushrooms, quartered

1 red chilli, finely diced

25g butter

1 cup water

1 cup light cream

100g Parmesan cheese, grated

100g Pecorino cheese, grated
Big handful fresh basil leaves

Olive oil

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Extra grated Parmesan to serve

- - - - - - - -

Pre-heat oven to 180˚C (350˚F)

Fill a large pot with cold water, add a good pinch of salt, a glug of olive oil and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Add the rigatoni and cook for 8 minutes over medium-high heat. Remove pasta from heat, drain and transfer back into cooking pot, coat with 1 tablespoon olive oil to avoid sticking and set aside.

Into a large, deep saucepan add 1 tablespoon olive oil and warm over medium heat. Add the finely diced onion, a pinch of salt and fry for 2-3 minutes, then add the minced garlic and cook together for a further 5 mins.

Add the butter, then the mushrooms, salami and chilli and cook for 5-10 mins combining all ingredients together. Add in the tinned tomatoes, water and cream, basil leaves, 50g grated Pecorino and Parmesan and stir everything together, seasoning to taste at this point with salt and black pepper. Finally add the cooked rigatoni and coat the pasta thoroughly in the sauce.

Empty the contents of pan into a deep baking dish, scatter the top with the remaining grated cheeses and bake in the pre-heated oven for 40-50 minutes or until the top is golden brown and bubbling. Serve hot with extra grated Parmesan.

Serves 4 – 6

Roast chestnut, parsnip,
apple and goat's cheese soup

- - - - - - - -

Note: Adapted from Gordon Ramsay's 'Cooking for Friends'

Published by HarperCollins Publishers 2008
{Recipe features on page 27}

20g butter

2 medium parsnips, chopped into very small pieces

2 celery stalks, finely diced

2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped

250g roasted chestnuts (or chestnut puree)

1 litre (4 cups) hot chicken stock

250g good quality soft goat's cheese

Handful chives finely sliced

Single cream to serve

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

- - - - - - - -

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the finely diced parsnip (make sure you ensure the parsnip is finely diced or it'll make the cooking time quite a lengthy process) and celery and season with salt and black pepper. Stir over high-heat for 10 minutes until the veggies are lightly golden. Add the apples and continue to cook for another 5 -10 mins until the apples are softened.

Add the chestnuts and stock along with 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper and continue to cook for another 20 minutes (or until all the veggies are soft - check the parsnips in particular at this stage ~ I found this took longer than the recipes stated it would). Remove from the heat and using a stick blender (or you can use a regular stand blender), whizz up the soup to a smooth, thick consistency then add back into the cooking pot. Turn the heat on to low, add the goat's cheese and stir into the warming soup until melted through. Check seasoning and add extra salt/pepper if you think the soup requires it. If you like the soup a little thinner, simply add water and stir to thin the texture.

Serve piping hot with a swirl of cream and a scattering of finely sliced fresh chives

Serves 4 – 6

Individual gutsy lamb shank & Shiraz pies

- - - - - - - -

6 large (8 small) lamb shanks

4 shallots, finely diced

2 leeks, finely sliced (remove green leaves)

1 celery stalk, finely diced

1 carrot, finely diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon flour

400g (1 tin) tinned, chopped tomatoes

1 bottle Shiraz wine

3 tablespoons Worcester sauce

2 tablespoons HP sauce

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard

Small handful fresh rosemary & parsley, finely chopped

4 thyme sprigs

Pre-rolled puff pastry sheets (approx. 2)

Zest 1 orange

1/4 cup port

Olive oil for frying

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

- - - - - - - -

Into a large French oven casserole dish, add 1 tablespoon olive oil, warm over medium heat then add the shallots, leeks, celery, carrot and garlic, coat in the oil, season with salt and black pepper and sauté for 10 minutes until vegetables are softened. Remove contents from pan and place aside, retaining saucepan for next stage.

Place flour into a large freezer bag and into which add the lamb shanks, seal bag and shake liberally to coat the meat with flour. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the same pan used to fry the veggies and taking 2 at a time, seal and brown each lamb shank adding more olive oil to the pan if you feel it needs it. When all shanks are browned, add them all into the casserole dish and top with the pre-cooked veggies. Season again generously with salt and black pepper.

Into a large jug or bowl, add the chopped tomatoes, Worcester sauce, HP sauce, balsamic and mustard and whisk to combine, pour over shanks along with the bottle of red. Scatter thyme leaves over the meat along with the finely chopped rosemary. Cover pot and cook in the oven for 3-4 hours or until the meat falls off the shank bone when tested with a fork.

Remove pot from oven and strain cooked shanks in a colander along with all the cooked veggies, retaining the strained cooking liquid. Strip meat from bones of shanks and place into individual pie dishes/vessels along with the veggies, orange zest, chopped parley and a good seasoning of salt and black pepper, mixing everything together.

Add the cooking liquid into a medium-sized saucepan along with the port and bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer until reduced by 1/3 and consistency is a thick, glossy sauce. (If you like you can mix together 1 teaspoon cornflour with a little cold water and add to the sauce to thicken it). Pour sauce all over pie filling, brush edges of pie dishes with water then top with the pre-rolled puff pastry. Brush generously with egg wash and bake in the oven for 40 mins or until pastry is golden brown.

Serve hot with roasted garlic mash and peas.

Serves 4 – 6

Lemon, ginger and rosemary ice-cream, hot lemon syrup

- - - - - - - -

1 cup caster sugar
1½ cups whole milk
2 cups double cream
1 cup single cream
Juice 4 lemons
Zest 1 lemon
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, very finely grated

For the hot lemon syrup:
Juice 2 lemons
¼ cup caster sugar

- - - - - - - -

Using an electric hand whisk, whisk the milk and sugar together for 2 minutes until the sugar is dissolved; add the cream, lemon juice, lemon zest, rosemary and ginger. Stir to combine. Place in the fridge overnight (best for optimum results) or for at least 4 hours in the fridge.

Remove ice cream mixture from fridge and pour into the frozen bowl of an ice cream maker, churn for 25-30 minutes – or as per your maker’s instructions until the consistency is a thick, soft serve ice cream. Serve immediately or return to the freezer for another 1 or 2 hours if you prefer a harder-style ice cream.
To make the hot lemon syrup:
Add ingredients into a small pot and bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until sugar has dissolved. Serve warm over ice cream in sundae glasses.

To make a ginger 'spider'* as per pic above:
Add 250mls (1 cup) ginger ale to a serving glass. Add 1-2 scoops ice-cream and top with a scattering of fresh lemon zest. Serve immediately.

Makes 3 pints

*A 'spider' is an Austrlian term for a soda 'float' ~ generally consisting of soda and ice-cream

* * * * * * * * * * *

Hello! :)

Fantastically last week I handed in my book manuscript (all photos and recipes) to Penguin and now it's back to my normal 5-9 (or generally in my case 8am to 1am!). The process of the book from perfecting, revising & testing recipes, shopping for food every week then organising the props, (more food), cooking, styling and finally (and most importantly for me) the photo shoot, was a full-on experience ~ albeit great fun and a big eye-opener. I've shot other people's cookbooks but to do the whole 'she-bang' yourself is a whole different ballgame and a great adventure to take yourself on. I had some amazing people helping me along the way but I look forward now to a little break from the book... before I look at the design (yes indeed I am a glutton for punishment!) and now it's back to focusing on my 'normal' editorial and advertising photography work and more importantly on the blog on a more regular basis :)

Last week I had the great fortune to work with the marketing team at Tourism Victoria as I was shooting and styling a gorgeous campaign for them which focused on showcasing all the most amazing food and wine produced by 5 regions of Victoria. Naturally this required lots of sampling of all the foodie goodies, a lot of which I had left-over at the end of the week from the shoot, so I decided it would be a nice idea to feature some recipes this week on WKA using the produce I was shooting last week: Heirloom baby tomatoes; fantastic goat's cheeses; incredible gutsy wines; beautiful fish and meats; deli goods like salamis and THE most amazing chorizo I have ever tasted - I'm not kidding the Istra brand of cured meats has been the most superb I've had the fortune to try in my 6 years living in Oz. Simply top notch produce.

I had a friend and his parents over for dinner on Saturday night and whilst deciding what to have for dins, the large bowl of fresh chestnuts I had shot the day before in the photo shoot stood on my kitchen bench staring at me. Having never ever actually roasted chestnuts at home before I thought it would be a fun thing to do so and use them in a soup for a starter. I knew very little of what to do with chestnuts (other than using them before in a great stuffing) and roasting them does, for some crazy reason, make you hum Christmas carols constantly in your head (only 54 days to go!) I found a great recipe in one of my favourite cookbooks: "Cooking for Friends" by Gordon Ramsay for a soup containing chestnuts ~ see recipe above, so decided to give it a whirl. It was an amazing success and everyone adored it on the night, I was a little worried when I was making it that a soup consisting of apples and I adapted it by adding some of the Victorian Goat's cheese to cut through the sweetness and a decent whack of pepper to give it all a bit of a kick. A total winner soup and one for the diary. It would be wonderful winter dish enjoyed with a good chunk of sourdough and a full-bodied red.

In my book I'm including some recipes for ice creams I have concocted over the past few months. One which I haven't included in print I decided to make a batch of this weekend ~ a lemon, rosemary and ginger flavour. It's a super light, tangy and really refreshing flavour and great to serve for kids with ginger ale in a 'spider' ~ which in Oz is a name for a soda float; aka ice cream paired with fizzy soda.

Even though we're almost nearing the official start of Summer here in Sydney, the weather has (annoyingly) been really average for this time of the year, so I've been cooking up more hearty, Winter and Autumnal style dishes for dinners as of late, I thought given the fact today is Hallowe'en and generally a chilly and more cosy night in most other parts of the world which celebrate this holiday, a dish like a warming lamb shank pie or rustic rigatoni pasta bake might be the order of the day...

Thanks again to all the readers and followers of the blog for being so patient and supportive to me over the past 2-3 months. I am back to update the blog now with gusto and will be back in the coming days with a new post featuring some summery healthy salads ~ including veggie options and fruity ideas for light desserts.

Katie x

P.S. I've decided going forward to keep the recipes in the body of each post as active text as opposed to lay them out as flattened jpegs like I had been for a few months. I think, based on general feedback, this is a more useful and legible idea all round and allows for easier copy and pasting etc of printing recipes for readers. Tks!

A long overdue update :)

2011-10-05T00:00:00.493+11:00

Finally I have managed to get a little bit of time together to update the blog (!) It seems like AGES since I have written up a post, I had hoped to get one up a few weeks ago but alas, due to the manic workload on my plate, it didn't eventuate, but thankfully in a week or two I'll be back on line regularly with weekly uploads for photos and recipes and news once my manuscript is handed in next week :)

The book shoot for the first What Katie ate cookbook is currently in full swing (heading into last week - yippee!!) and I'm 75% there with it *yay* after a full on past 2 months of final recipe writing; testing; external recipe testing; shopping for my tester and again for the photo shoot each week, and then renting and sourcing props and settings.

It's been a very intense 2-3 months for me, but finally I can now see light at the end of the tunnel and am very excited to see the whole book start to take shape over the coming months.

Where I could I snapped a few extra behind the scenes pics. I am blessed to have a great team on board during this photo shoot stage: Simon my cook who is helping me prepare all the recipes for the shoot and Madeleine, who is, quite possibly the most incredible assistant ever ~ she could write her own book on how to make a "superb, would-be-lost-without-her" photo and styling assistant. Thanks guys :)

So until I am back up in action with a few new recipes in 2 weeks, here's a few pics for the moment, along with some other snippets of info. about what's been going on over the past 8 weeks or so... x

Props, props, props and more props, and that's just the tip of the iceberg...

A small selection of the piles of hand-dyed fabrics for the shoot.

Going through photos from the blog for possible inclusion.

The amount of shopping required for a 300 page cookbook is quite something,
I should have shares in Coles and Woolies at this stage....

Shooting blue swimmer crab and amazing tiger prawns from the Sydney Fish Markets.

STILL washing up at 11.45pm :(

My glorious assistant; Madeleine (top left and centre)
MORE washing up... *groan*

4 weeks of recipe writing and testing stage finally finished, time for some celebratory
bubbles had on a gloriously sunny Sydney afternoon!

The White House, Daylesford, Victoria, Australia

* * * * * * * * * *

Last weekend just gone, I decided it was time to have a long-overdue bit of R&R away from the book shoot to recharge the batteries. A few months ago I booked a property in Daylesford (an easy 1.5 hour drive North-West of Melbourne CBD).

I have long been an admirer of this property: 'The White House' for years, but until now, I had never stayed in it. I stumbled across the property on the internet a while back in 2008 and always had a yearning to rent it one weekend and find out if it really was the superb spot it portrays in it's beautiful online photos...

From the moment I stood foot inside the door, my mouth was a-gasp...! No kidding, it is quite possibly, the most beautiful house I have even had the great fortune to stay in. Stunning. Utterly beautiful ~ and I'll be honest, I'm a tough (fussy) cookie to please… My only gripe was I couldn't buy the house along with all it's contents and move it to Sydney!!

The house is owned by and styled by Lyn Gardener ~ owner of the delectable; 'Empire Vintage' in Melbourne. Lyn's eye for detail and taste-level is out-of-this world.

I share a similar aesthetic (as in I love mixing old vintage pieces with new and have a fondness for industrial vintage pieces) but what can I say… Lyn truly deserves all the many accolades she receives and her title of 'Melbourne's Queen of Vintage' is most definitely well appointed and fully deserved.

The house consists of 2 bedrooms in the main house and a separate bedroom and bathroom in the guest garden cottage. All bedrooms are beautifully decorated and feature wonderfully luxurious hand-made linens on super comfy beds.

It was chilly in Daylesford this weekend but the house is equipped with a fab heating system and bucket-loads of firewood to provide a fantastic open fire – great for chilling out in front of with a big bottle of Aussie gutsy red.. There is a superb surround sound system in the house along with stereo and iPod dock and various CDs. Upon arrival you'll find a loaf of fresh bread plus breakfast provisions for the morning and a full-stocked kitchen for whipping up a meal to enjoy in-front of the cosy fire :) All in all, a wonderful weekend away, in a magical house, which I will most definitely be re-visiting.

Prop.d

* * * * * * * * * *

I wanted to take a photo or two for my book whilst I was away in Daylesford last weekend and had it all planned out: recipes written; ingredients bought and props for the shoot sorted ~ the latter of which I rented here in Sydney beforehand and packed away safely in a box, all ready for the plane journey down to Melbourne...

So it was a super-great annoyance when I realised in the airport that I had rather cleverly (not!) left said box of props in my studio office... *grumble*...

... Thank God for Prop.d

I gave them a call and swung by their Footscray store to pick up a box of props to use on the shoot. Their collection of items is fantastic. The gorgeous Rachael and Carly saved my bacon on this one, big-time...

Like the aforementioned White House, Prop.d is a company I've often read about in recent months but never had the good pleasure to work with, what with me being located in Sydney as opposed to Melbourne these days. The company is co-owned with Rachael by one of Australia's best known stylist: Glen Proebstel whose work I have greatly admired since I got involved in this industry.

"Rachael Hart and Glen Proebstel met 3 years ago when Glen joined the Melbourne based creative agency Katrina Herschell Management. Rachael was working for Katrina as the booker/producer and Glen was the new kid on the Melbourne block. Since then they have worked together on a wide range of advertising and editorial bookings, Glen working the creative side of the jobs and Rachael working the production end. Since leaving KHM Rachael and Glen have teamed up again and created “prop.d” (pronounced propped), pulling together Glen’s huge and ever growing collection of beautiful objects in the form of a stylist’s prop house.

While ‘prop.d’ is one of Glen ‘s babies he still continues his ongoing editorial and freelance work. He is the Style Director of Inside Out magazine and contributes to other editorial publications such as Country Style, Gourmet Traveller, Elle Decoration UK, Living Etc UK and many more. Some of his advertising clients include; Domayne, Mil Lel Cheese, Myer, Tuppaware, Sheriden, Aura by Tracie Ellis and Space Furniture. He has also worked on the following cookbooks with publishers Hardie Grant and Penguin; Tobie Puttock “The Daily Italian”, Maeve O’Meara “Food Safari”, Greg Malouf “Saraban”, and ‘The Foodies Guide and Calander 2010’.

Real Living Magazine, October Editorial

* * * * * * * * * *

A few photos from a shoot completed back in April for Real Living Magazine.

Pete Evans' My Kitchen

* * * * * * * * * *

Back in January 2011 I had the pleasure of being asked to shoot Pete Evans 5th and latest book; 'My Kitchen'.

It was a fantastic few weeks of working alongside Pete; his head chefs from Hugos and the wonderful David Morgan, whom I think is one of the best food and prop stylists in Australia.

The shoot consisted of not only all the food pics but also a few days on location at Pete's house in Bondi.

The first day on location was one I won't forget in a rush ~ shooting all day from 8am until 6pm on the rocks at Bondi in 43+˚C searing heat *eeek*. The book is now on sale and looks fab. The recipes are incredible (esp. the Bo Ssam - you HAVE to make this dish - I did - for nearly a week non-stop!).

My Kitchen is on sale - online here

Melbourne report and a little hiatus....

2011-08-02T17:06:00.025+10:00

Two fabulous Melbourne restaurant finds; ChinChin and Coda, both located on Flinders lane in central Melbourne CBD

This place ~ St. Ali, cooks my favourite poached eggs in Melbourne and serves them with a super spicy yummo relish.
Great coffee, great atmosphere, cool design and wonderful staff (Hi Salvatori.....)

Vasette - quite possibly THE best florist in all of Australia...

Bar Open on Brunswick Street has always been one of my favourite Melbourne bars. In US terms it would be described as a 'dive bar' - which really are my favourite kind of bars - probably stemming from my life-long love of music. I've jumped around to many a Pixies song in this bar... It's a very laid-back, music-focused place and a trip to Brunswick Street in Fitzroy just wouldn't be the same for me without a quick stop off here. Also next door the Brunswick Street Bookstore always has one or two golden finds and uber pretty Kleins Perfumery is always a must.

Merricks General Store was a superb find on the recommendation of my Father-in-law; Bob, who has eaten here recently with friends. We enjoyed a lazy Monday Bank holiday lunch over a bottle or two of locally produced white. A really lovely setting and interior decor to match. Very relaxing, super friendly accommodating staff and wonderful food.

All images above (with the exception of the St. Ali illustration and St. Ali window shot) © Katie Quinn Davies 2011

* * * * * * * * *

Firstly I just want to say a huge thanks to all who wrote such fabulous comments on my last post regarding the Cosmo win. I really appreciate all your great, supportive words. As mentioned unfortunately I wasn't able to attend the actual awards as I was in Melbourne last week on a shoot, however I decided to stay on over the weekend and managed to get some great meals in the city and had a potter about my local haunts. I still find it hard at times to get my head around the fact I lived in Melbourne for four years as it seems quite foreign to me now, but after a day or two there I usually find my feet again pretty fast and really respect all this great city has to offer from a foodie perspective and also all it's great bars and shopping.

One restaurant I adored and a new find during this trip was Chin Chin – an incredible Vietnamese restaurant located in Flinders Lane in the heart of the city. When we got there (didn't have a reservation as they don't take them unless you have a party or 12 or more) even though it was heaving, we managed to secure a place at the Kitchen Bar – right next to the chefs working away plating up their dishes. I am going through a bit of a Vietnamese food infatuation at the moment, just loving the clean flavours and sweet/sour/chilli tastes. Also as a recent convert to coriander – a herb I used to detest with a passion, I am starting to really come round to this well-used Asian fave, especially when it's paired with mint, as I find commonly in Vietnamese recipes. We ordered a selection of started and mains including their: Chin Chin Pork "Roll Ups" - Red Braised Suckling Pig with Pancakes, Slaw and Sour Herbs; Spicy Eggnet Omelette Rolls with Spanner Crab and Chilli Jam; Caramelised Sticky Pork with Siamese Watercress and Chilli Vinegar and finally their Crispy Quail, Soy Marinated with Sichuan Salt, Lemon and Sauce Siracha. All were totally drool-worthy and I am now counting the days until I return the Melbourne to visit again. All booking/contact info on Chin Chin can be found here.

Sunday I headed down to my in-laws on the Mornington Peninsula and enjoyed a great meal cooked courtesy of my Father-in-law who is a whizz in the kitchen. On Monday we decided to opt for a lazy lunch at a great little bistro restaurant and cellar door located in the Merricks area called The Merricks General Wine Store

The focus of the restaurant is:

"Modern country (with a hint of French) inspired cuisine and wine-friendly dishes with an emphasis on simplicity, seasonality and flavour"

"The Store's casual indoor setting is fun, relaxed and bursting with light. In summer, one of the peninsula's real hidden gems is a table on the casual deck at Merricks, a glass of wine in hand, great company with the beautiful scenic view of Western Port Bay in the background.."

It was a great suggestion on my father-in-law's (Bob) behalf as the food was truly top-notch. Very rustic in style, presented beautifully by incredibly friendly and welcoming staff. I adore a good cheese platter and all things paté/relishes/pickles/terrine etc. related so their menu offerings which contained all of the above had be stumped for choice. I finally opted for the Potted Pork & Duck Rillettes with Pickled Quince, Spiced Grapes & Toasted Turkish Bread which was fab and has me now on a mission to try my hand at creating a potted pork recipe for myself. Especially so having watched one of my all time favourite chefs Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's Christmas Fayre special last week on the food channel here in Oz, where a potted pheasant recipe totally had be intrigued....

Finally and most importantly, another reason for this post is to let you all know I am now entering a very intense stage of writing the first What Katie ate book and as such have to take a bit of a hiatus from online updates as I just simply (and regretfully) cannot juggle this stage of the book with regular work and updating the blog as frequently as I would like. Therefore I am going to be taking a break for the next 8 weeks but will be back with gusto and try and will post sporadically if I can. I want to thank all the readers and followers of WKA for your continued interest, support and promotion of my blog.

*Corny alert* As Arnie would say…. "I'll be back" ;) x

EDITED TO SAY - The below cake recipe is up now HOWEVER Blogger.com seems to have suddenly (literally 20 mins ago) changed it's format and posting options, I am unable to size the recipe to what I normally would so just remember to click on the link and it'll enlarge and should print out at A4 or A3 size. I am taking the site down off a blogging platform in the coming months to create a stand alone WKA website which will allow me much more flexibility and also be able to offer readers a more user-friendly site.

Cosmopolitan Magazine Fun, Fearless Female 2011 Winner (!!!) Woohoo!! :)

2011-07-27T23:01:00.023+10:00

HOLY MOLY I am totally THRILLED to announce I found out this evening I won the Cosmopolitan Magazine Fun, Fearless Female 2011 Award in the Blogger category (!!!!)

A huge surprise and I am really very touched to have won. I want to fly the flag for all Aussie (and Irish) bloggers with this win. Thank you so, SO much to all who voted for me, I am truly touched.

Also a big thanks to Cosmopolitan Magazine for including me - especially in a category with such an amazing group of clever, creative and dedicated Aussie bloggers. And of course a big congrats to all the other fab women who won the other 10 respective award categories.

Due to photo work commitments I am not in Sydney at the moment, but wanted to post up a pic of a cake I had planned to feature in my next blog post - I think it's only fitting to (as usual!) stick up a big, fat, yummy cake when there's an occasion for celebration :) Recipe (Coffee, Frangelico. Chocolate Meringue Gateaux) to follow in a few days when I'm back on home turf in Sydney from marvelous Melbourne.

Thanks again to all who voted for me xxx

Coffee, Frangelico, Chocolate Meringue Gateaux

For the sponge cake mixture
300g unsalted butter
300g caster (superfine) sugar
4 tsp instant coffee granules
1/2 cup boiling water
6 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp Frangelico liqueur
2 tbsp milk
3 cups plain flour
2 tbsp baking powder
1 + 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

For the chocolate buttercream
250g unsalted butter, softened
3 tbsp icing (confectioners) sugar
2 tbsp milk
75g chocolate
1 tbsp Frangelico liquer

For the chocolate hazelnut meringue ‘sand’ (optional)
100g chocolate
1 tbsp Baileys Irish Cream liqueur
1 tbsp chocolate liqueur
60g cooked meringue (I used shop-bought pre-cooked meringue shells)
2/3 cup roasted hazelnuts

For the chocolate ganache
180g chocolate
1 cup cream
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp Frangelico liqueur

To serve
3 cups roasted hazelnuts, medium–finely crushed
Chocolate liqueur(optional)

* * * * * * *

Preheat oven to 180˚C (350˚F)

Grease and line 3 x 20.5cm (8”) spring-form baking tins, set aside.

To make the sponge cake mixture
Into a cup add 4 tsp instant coffee granules and dissolve in 1/2 cup boiling water. Stir well to combine like you would with normal coffee and allow to cool. In the bowl of a stand mixer add the 300g butter and 300g caster sugar and beat/whip for about 15 minutes on a medium-high setting until very light, fluffy and creamy. The mixture will also become very pale in colour. In a small separate bowl add the 6 eggs and whisk together with a fork. Turn the mixer speed down to low and add the eggs in 4 or 5 individual additions to the butter/sugar mixture and beat over medium speed until incorporated. At this stage add in the Frangelico and milk and beat for a further minute or so then add in 3 tbsp of the pre-prepared cooled coffee and again beat over a low speed to combine.

Sift flour, baking powder and cocoa into a medium-sized bowl, combine together and then add to the cake mixture tbsp by tbsp until all ingredients are incorporated together. Pour into prepared spring-form pans and bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes until cooked and tops golden. Perform a skewer test to ensure cakes are cooked through. Cool on wire racks.

To make the buttercream
Beat sugar and butter in a stand mixer together again - as above, over until light, fluffy and pale in colour (about 15-20 minutes). Whilst this butter and sugar are mixing, melt the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (always be careful not to let the bowl touch the water below), when melted cool slightly (2 or 3 mins) and then pour into the butter/sugar mix. Stir to combine then add in the milk and Frangelico. Store all ingredients together then place in the fridge until required.

To make the chocolate hazelnut meringue ‘sand’
*Note this optional - you can omit if preferred...
Place roasted hazelnuts into a heavy-duty freezer bag. (*Note - to roast hazelnuts simply place them on a baking tray and roast in a medium oven for 15 minutes until golden brown. Keep an eye on them so they don’t burn as this can happen pretty quickly once they start to toast). Using a rolling pin bash the nuts up to a fine texture. Add the 60g pre-made/pre-bought meringue shells (I used a packet of pre-made gourmet mini meringue shells for ease) into the freezer bag and again, bash these up along with the nuts. Set aside. Using the same bowl you used to melt the chocolate for the buttercream, melt the 100g chocolate as before then pour over the nuts and meringue, distribute the chocolate through the hard ingredients using a spatula until evenly coated then place entire mixture into a food processor and blend to a fine powder.

To make the chocolate ganache
Chop chocolate into small pieces and place into a heat-proof bowl. Place cream into a small saucepan and bring to a slow boil, once boiling remove from heat and pour cream over chocolate, allow to sit for 1-2 mins then carefully stir to combine. The mixture may appear a little curdled but continue to mix and until you stir in the milk and Frangelico and set aside until required.

To assemble the cake
Spread a generous amount of buttercream on top of the bottom layer of cake them sprinkle over a layer of hazelnut/chocolate ‘sand’, add the second sponge layer and repeat with buttercream and choco/nut sand. Top with the final and third sponge layer. Using a palette knife, cover entire cake with a thin layer of buttercream and place in the freezer to chill. After approx. 15 mins remove from the fridge and cover with ganache mixture. Return to fridge then chill for a further 10 minutes then remove and sprinkle top and side of cake with crushed hazelnuts.

Serve with a small drizzle of chocolate liqueur if required.

Birthday recipes...

2011-07-18T16:37:00.051+10:00

Remember to click on the pics to enlarge photos and recipes... ;)

LEMON, LIME AND GINGER HAZELNUT CRUNCH MOUSSE

WATERMELON, SALT AND CHILI GRANITA

GNOCCHI WITH PANCETTA, CAVOLO NERO, CHERRY TOMATOES AND SALTED PUMPKIN SEEDS

*Note: I meant to mention int he above recipe, add in the toasted pumpkin seeds at the end when adding the Parmesan - basically scatter them all over the dish just before serving.

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE TARTS, HERSHEY'S CHOCOLATE SAUCE

This is a larger version of mini chocolate tartlet canapés which I served at the party last week. I'm not kidding when I say this recipe is a chocolic's idea of nirvana... everyone was raving about them on the night. Using Hersey's chocolate sauce as a topping is both quick and easy and cuts out the need to make an extra sauce for the tops. However, mini-canapé pastry shells are very time-consuming to make so I felt it a better idea to create a recipe for individual larger servings. These are great for a dinner party as they can be made the night before and left in the fridge until needed.

As per recipe, I used Careme Dark Chocolate Shortcrust Pastry - stockists here
An alternative is available here

I've followed this recipe before and it works excellently.

SLOW ROASTED TOMATO AND GOAT'S CHEESE BASIL PESTO TART

BEEF AND SHIRAZ TORTELLONI, ROASTED TOMATO SAUCE

KATIE'S MINI EGGS BENEDICT CANAPES

I used a packet (rather cool looking one at that - hence why I was drawn to it in the store) of William Sonoma Organic Buttermilk Biscuit Mix (again - I swear I'm not being sponsored by this firm, I just love a lot of their foodie products and packaging and can't get enough of them when I visit the US!) for the base of these canapés and it worked really well as it offers a good flavour balance with the salty pancetta and gooey quail's egg. However, I understand not everyone can get their hands on this item so have include a basic, soft scone recipe below which will work equally as well.

All images cooked, styled and photographed by © Katie Quinn Davies 2011

I was thrilled yesterday to receive a mail from the lovely Keiko ~ writer of the consistently stunning blog Nordljus who pointed out to me I had been listed in the U.K.'s Independent Newspaper's 50 Best Food Websites 2011. A great honour and am very chuffed to be noted alongside so many wonderful foodie sites. Many thanks to the panel at The Independent :)

Finally - a photo I took during a surprise birthday night stay at the gorgeous Shangri-La Hotel in Sydney's Circular Quay. Our room was on the 35th floor with views which are frankly (and no matter how often I see this view on a daily basis) simply breath-taking... We ate at the Altitude Restaurant on the top floor (aka the floor above our room!) and it hands down has to be one of the best meals I have ever had in Sydney, if anyone who is reading this post is pondering a trip to Sydney (you know you want to...!) this is a MUST place to eat. Am seriously pondering a reservation for NYE 2011....

BTW this pic was taken on a new camera purchase - the fab Fuji X100 - I'll do a little review on it in the coming weeks, but for the moment I only have positive words for it, a superb little point and shoot camera, especially so for the pro. photograher looking for something more versatile from a P&S model.

* * * * * * * * *

Last weekend I threw a 'cocktail and canapés' party for a bunch of close mates to celebrate my birthday. I'd pondered what to do for a while – go out for a nice dinner or do something at home and the latter won out, mainly due to the fact I love throwing a good shin-dig. So I spent a few days in the run up to the weekend planning a selection of canapés and nibbles. I've always been one to go a bit mad making canapés and for me - the more intricate the better *control freak/perfectionist alert*.

I don't know what it is about these little miniature bundles of joy but I just adore making them. I realise there are few people in this world who are mad (sad) enough to spend 2 hours cutting 70 perfect segments away from the pith out of 10 slices of lemons, but I also realise being prepared to do this sort of thing is a benefit to my career in some sorts I guess, as this perfectionist attribute is one I think has helped me forge ahead in the styling area of my career.

My fascination with food styling began years ago back in my hometown of Dublin. When working as a Graphic Designer I often art directed photo shoots for various design clients at the design studios for whom I then worked. One in particular often sent me on shoots in a studio where a full time food photographer was also based. I would find it next to impossible not to veer away from my own work to stare in awe at the food stylist working her magic on whatever food items were on their shoot agenda for the day. I remember in particular one day she was styling sausage rolls for a mainstream Irish food company called Denny and she had about 7,894 frozen sausage rolls in front of her and a scalpel which she used to slice perfect little diagonal holes in the top of the pastry. I remember thinking it was far from the glamorous notions I had of working as a food stylist but she had me totally hooked.

I prepared about 12 different canapés for the party, some were my own recipes - see above Mini Eggs Benedict; some were from Pete Evans My Party book (fab book for such events, filled with amazing canapé and finger food ideas and some drool-worthy cocktail recipes) and one or two other ones I cooked over the years which I initially found on the BBC food website. Delia Smith's Mini Yorkshire Puddings with Rare Beef and Horseradish and Mustard Crème Fraiche Sauce is a hand's down winner. They are divine and don't last long at a party, being devoured always super quickly. Great thing too about them is you can cook the Yorkshire Puddings a few days in advance, freeze them once cooled, then turn them out onto a baking tray on the afternoon of the party to defrost and crisp up in the oven before serving. I have made these canapés about 6 times in the past 3 or so years and they are always a sure-fire success.

I also made three baby-sized sweet desert-style options; an incredibly decedent and addictive: Mini Chocolate Truffle Tartlets topped with Hershey's Chocolate Syrup (I use the latter for ease as when throwing cocktail parties the key is to make things simple, quick and as stress-free as possible - it also tastes amazing in contrast to the not-so-sweet chocolate pastry and filling); Mini Watermelon, Sea Salt and Chili Granita Cones* and finally Mini Lemon and Lime Tartlets with Orange Blossom Persian Fairy Floss. I have included the recipes above for the first two deserts, however I have written the chocolate tartlets as larger, individual portion servings and the granita is served too in individual serving glasses. For the Lemon and Lime Mini Tartlets, I have altered this idea to create a super-light and more user-friendly/less fiddly everyday dinner or dinner party mousse recipe, combining the citrus with some freshly grated ginger and a biscuit/toasted hazelnut base. All these desserts are well-worth a try, easy to prepare and all can be made easily in advance of serving. The granita will keep perfectly well in your freezer for 3 or 4 days, the chocolate tarts can be made a day in advance of serving and the lemon mousse the same. All providing great options for easy dinner-party dessert ideas.

The idea for the Mini Watermelon, Sea Salt and Chili Granita came from a packet of sweets/candy which was given to me by my friend Melina Hammer whilst I was in New York recently. Melina kindly gave me a few packets of candy which she had bought earlier that day during a tour she took at the amazing NYC-based candy firm Papabubble

I really wish I had known about this company sooner as I would have loved to have totally taken a tour there and seen first-hand the sweets being made during my trip. Their website is super quirky and now a definite on my list of places to visit when I am in NYC next summer. One of the bags of candy Melina gave me was their Watermelon, Chili and Salt variety and wow - what incredible taste combination! First you taste the sweet and fruity watermelon, then the chili lingers a tad before you get the salty after-kick, all in just the right overall balance. A really interesting flavour-combo and one which works really well in both the candy and the improvised granita which makes me yearn for the upcoming hot Sydney Summer days...

My husband Mike – as mentioned a few times before here on WKA is a total pasta making fanatic and he got the pasta maker out this weekend to make up a batch of fresh pasta for me to pair with a take on the ingredients I used in a mini pie canapé last weekend for the party. I made a few batches of a Mini Steak and Red Wine Mini Aussie Pies which I've cooked up in larger scale before over the years and over the past few days I felt the filling, if altered slightly would make for a fab ravioli or tortellini recipe - especially if cooked using a good, gutsy Shiraz-style red wine. On a side-note, I've always struggled a tad to get homemade tortelloni looking as good as I'd like but over the weekend I found a super helpful link on You Tube which really helps to get the shape just right – I'd explain it in the recipe word-for-word but find it's much easier just to follow the simple instructions as shown in the video here.

Tomatoes are in abundance at the moment here in Sydney – which is nothing new but I was pleasantly surprised to find a plethora of amazing Heirloom and other such more-unusual varieties at the Eveleigh Market last Saturday, as well as in a staple grocery store of mine Fratelli Fresh – where I found an abundance of sweet, flavoursome baby cherry tomatoes on the vine. So after completing an editorial shoot this week based around a theme of all things Italian, I felt it fitting to grab a good few handfuls of these gorgeous fruits and devise a few seasonal recipes around them - a super simple, Slow-Roasted Cherry and Heirloom Tomato Tart which is paired with a Homemade Basil Pesto and shavings of fresh Parmesan. Also a very quick Gnocchi recipe – the main basis of which was supplied to me by my good friend Simon who – whilst we were discussing our somewhat mutual dislike this week for the texture of Gnocchi (too gloopy and soft for my liking generally) – told me he has similar reservations about gnocchi but finds if you pan fry it after quick boiling can alter the texture considerably. And he was right, this simple combo of pan-crisped gnocchi, lemon, bacon and fantastically fresh, in-season Cavolo Nero Italian spinach was a total winner in my books and a perfect light Monday evening, quick dinner idea.

Finally am thrilled to report What Katie ate has been listed in The Independent Newspaper's 50 Best Food Websites – a total surprise but a rather good one at that! Woohoo - a great start to the week ahead. Thanks again Keiko for letting me know :)

x

Happy 4th of July! :)

2011-07-03T18:37:00.031+10:00

APPLE, GINGER AND CRANBERRY VODKA COCKTAILS

When I was in NYC I picked up a bottle of Absolut's special edition
Absolut Brooklyn. I was drawn to it initially in a bar in the West Village as the bottle was really eye-catching and it tasted pretty darn good too... It's a flavour is based on one of apple and ginger and makes for a really wonderful cocktail base. I did buy a bottle however unfortunately I left it in the freezer in the house I rented in Venice but had a bit of a play around recreating the basic premise of this mix and added my own small twist to create a super simple, super refreshing Summer-time tipple.

PULLED PORK SLIDERS WITH HOMEMADE APPLE CIDER SLAW

As always, I went a tad nuts on the shopping department whilst away and as is the norm with me, I brought back quite a lot of food products from the various gourmet and specialist food stores I visited (much to the amusement of the US and Aussie customs officials...). One store I alway head straight to is Williams Sonoma, in particular I love their pre-packaged food products and after the monumental Pulled Pork Sandwich we had in Provincetown, Cape Cod it was a no-brainer I was bringing back a large jar of the Williams Sonoma Pulled Pork Starter Sauce come hell or high water. I gave it a whirl this weekend to create my own pulled pork sliders to accompany the beef ones below and they were a huge success with the friends for whom who I cooked for today. I personally found the sauce excellent, albeit just a tad too heavy on the chili flavour. I'll be experimenting this week with my own pulled pork sauce and will post up the recipe when I've hit the jackpot and tested it with some mates.

These were two vintage kids skateboards I picked up in Venice CA during my stay on the West coast of the US recently. I adore them and they have pride of place in my kitchen now in Sydney. I found them in a store called Surfing Cowboys on Abbot Kinney Ave.

Ironically I had no idea the store was located on that street and was thrilled when wandering down it one afternoon to spy the shop frontage totally out of the blue. I had found the shop online initially almost 5 years previous whilst doing online research into retro vintage surfboards, as I was looking for a 1st wedding anniversary gift for my husband, so after years of online drooling over their various wares, it was fantastic to finally step inside the shop. Surfing Cowboys contains a great range of really excellent vintage furniture and other home/personal accessories, well worth a gander if you're in the area...

BEEF & PORK SLIDERS WITH BRIOCHE BUNS AND SPICY RELISH

(Basic above relish recipe here) for this one however, I added in an extra finely chopped red and green chili to the ingredients, along with 1 tbsp each balsamic and cider vinegar.

SALTED BUTTERSCOTCH PEANUT POPCORN

I'm more of a savoury-tooth sort, but every time I'm in the US I always manage to get my paws on a packet or two of Crackerjack – especially when I'm at a baseball game. This is my simple take on traditional Crackerjack popcorn. It's crazy tasty - albeit a teeny bit messy as the butterscotch coating very really totally dries on the popcorn so prepare for sticky fingers!

CBGB PIZZA

John Varvatos is a menswear designer whom I love, his obsession with Rock 'n Roll is one I share with an immense passion and thus I adore how this sentiment translates into his clothes. I also love his store in New York – a really cool environment which is housed in the old CBGB nightclub. I rarely put up recipes on the blog which I haven't written and devised myself, however when I discovered this above pizza in a great cookbook I have had here in the house for some time, I felt this was a must for this blog posting - The CBGB pizza by Theo Kalogeracos.

All above images © Katie Quinn Davies

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As the post title states: Happy 4th of July to all readers in the USA :)

To honour the occasion, I thought it would be a nice idea this week to upload some recipes which were inspired from my recent time in the States. I tasted and savoured quite a few sliders during my time away and was on a mission when I can home to write a good recipe for these tasty little burgers. I paired them with some homemade brioche buns (I find it good to keep a burger bun on the softer side so brioche style works well) and a nice piquant chili tomato relish.

It was a gorgeous day today in Sydney, we all totally forgot it is still actually Winter and Summer is still a few months away as it was 20˚C and gloriously sunny. We had some mates around so I took some shots beforehand of the lunch I prepared in advance this morning.

On a separate note, I'm delighted to announce this past week I signed with Harper Collins in the UK so in addition to Aus. and the U.S., the first What Katie ate book will be published and distributed in the UK and Ireland just a few months after it's launched in the U.S. and Australia late next year :)

A busy week ahead for me this week, more recipe writing for the book and a few magazine editorial shoots. I'll be back later this week with some delicious ideas for cocktail party canapés. Have a great week all :) x

Palm Beach Bonfire Shoot

2011-06-28T11:36:00.013+10:00

Spiced Roasted Nuts Recipe Here

Ultimate Cheese Burger with Onion Jam Recipe Here

Caramel, Apple & Hazelnut Tray Cake Recipe here

All this week I am spending time developing recipes for the book and also working on recipes for my next food posting which I am planning to get up towards the end of this week. I have a few ideas for food which I experienced whilst on my US trip and also one or two other ideas which have been mulling around my head for a few weeks. Until I get these ideas cooked and shot, as a filler I thought I would upload some images from another shoot a did a few months ago up at Sydney's Palm Beach for Real Living Magazine. All the recipes are in the current Real Living edition and were written by Sophie Hansen of Mandagery Creek Venison Farm. When not helping her husband Tim tend to their extensive Venison stock, Sophie is a food writer and has spent considerable time working for some of the countries best foodie magazines.