June 2006 - Greek Egg & Feta Pies

Okay, so I really want to get another post done but I am not feeling too well tonight so I will keep it reasonably short. Although I must say that it really will not be hard to keep it short on this one. I certainly wasn't overwhelmed for choice of vegetarian meals from issue #50. There are only 7 vegetarian recipes from the 48 recipes listed in the index, excluding desserts and side dishes. That really is a disappointing number.

I was going to make Valli Little's Spiced Haloumi Pasta. An intriguing mixture of pasta, haloumi and Indian spices served with naan and mango chutney. I was unable to find any fresh curry leaves (or dried for that matter) so I decided to leave this one for a time when I am able to get some. I have bought fresh curry leaves locally in the past so I am assuming that it is a seasonal product and this just isn't the right season.

I ended up making Jill Dupleix's Greek Egg & Feta Pies. These were incredibly simple and very tasty. I only did two things differently. I used puff pastry instead of phaffing around with filo and I chopped up the black olives and sprinkled them on top before baking. I would definitely make these again. Jill suggested serving with salad but it was cold so I cooked some beans and reheated the last of the Airport Potatoes to go with them.

Greek Egg & Feta Pies (my way, LOL)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet puff pastry (thawed)
  
• 4 large eggs
  
• 30 g feta, crumbled (I am not sure how much I used, I think I could have used more)
  
• 1 green onion, green part only finely sliced
• 4 black olives finely chopped

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180 C.
  
• Divide puff pastry into four. Roll each piece slightly and then use to line a well greased texas muffin pan.
  
• Crack egg into each of the pastry cases being careful not to break the yolk.
  
• Sprinkle with feta, green onions and olives. Season with pepper.
  
• Bake in oven for 15 minute or until pastry is golden and eggs are set.
  

June 2005 - Airport Potatoes

I seem to be quickly getting through the recipes now, although not getting them posted quite as quickly. I had made the recipe from this issue on the weekend, the same day that I made the Florentine Pears from my last post. The cover recipe from issue #39, Bill Granger's Beef & Noodle Stir Fry with Chinese Broccoli looks just amazing. I think that just the colour of the background helps in it too. It didn't fit with my vegetarian month.

It is another month that is low on vegetarian recipes. I have noticed while looking through the issues that the first couple of years seemed to have a lot, then the next 3 or so years are a little bit bleak and the last 2 years there have been a decent range of recipes again. There is even the odd vegan recipe in there these days.

After looking through the recipes the only one that I wanted to make, besides Ben O'Donoghue's Cheesy Garlic Bread, was Jill Dupleix's Airport Potatoes. Jill describes the inspiration behind these as trays of potatoes in the airport at Rome. The recipe sounded really good and the taste was just sensational. I think that this could be a true rival of the traditional potato bake/gratin at an Aussie bbq. It has the added advantage of being a lot lower in fat too without all that cream. The only change that I will make when I make it next time is to added onion slices in layers with the potatoes. It was just superb. The potatoes were beautifully cooked and lovely and creamy. I used some baby Lady Cristel potatoes that were just perfect in the dish. A waxy potato is needed so that the do not break up while being cooked and mine held together perfectly. Jill suggests that this can be used for a side dish or an entire meal on its own. Now I will confess here that while this is a vegetarian/vegan friendly recipe I served it with a Herb & Mustard roast lamb and veg. I am not sure that I could just have a whole meal of the potatoes.

Airport Potatoes

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1kg potatoes, peeled(I didn't peel mine)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• sea salt and pepper
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano (I used Italian Mixed Herbs)
• 1tb salted capers rinsed well
• 2 tbsp roughly chopped parsley
• 200g punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
  

Method

• Heat the oven to 190 C.
  
• Slice the potatoes about 1/2 cm thick and roughly layer over the base of an oiled roasting dish seasoning with salt and pepper between the layers.
  
• Add 1 cup (250 ml) water to the dish and cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile combine the canned tomatoes, oil, garlic, oregano, capers and half the chopped parsley.
• Remove dish from the oven, remove the foil and pour over the tomato mixture. Top with cherry tomatoes and return to the oven, uncovered, for 30 - 40 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through.
  
• Serve with remain parsley scattered on top.
  

June 2004 - Florentine Pears

Well, here I am trying to pack in all these recipes in the last week of the month and I wishing that I had gotten myself more organised early in the month. Part of the problem was that I was stuck on what to make from issue #28.

I wasn't overly impressed with the range of vegetarian recipes on offer in this issue. There was a couple of pasta dishes, a rather uninspiring soup and a couple of salads. There was also a ricotta torte with two pestos which would be nice but needed an army of people to eat it. The other option was a rather strange Spiced coconut eggs, which is a curried egg recipe but it contains not only coconut cream but also thick cream and hollandaise sauce... A very strange combination to say the least. I was curious to know what it tasted like but not curious enough to actually make it.

Since I couldn't find anything vegetarian that really interested me so it was left with going for a meaty dish or dessert. After another trawl through the issue I decided on dessert. There were a number of really good desserts featuring pears. I love pears and this is the perfect time of year for them here. They are lovely and sweet and juicy. I was initially going to make the Pear & Ginger Tart. I considered making when my grandparents came to dinner at the end of last month but it is covered in whipped cream and my grandfather can't eat large amounts of cream. There is also a lovely Pear Charlotte recipe however it used a brioche loaf and I have never found a brioche loaf here.

In the end I decided to go with Valli Little's Florentine Pears. I used beurre bosc pears which were poached in a sugar syrup and then served with a chocolate and coffee sauce, vanilla ice cream and a florentine biscuit. The florentine seems to be rather superfluous but it was nice all the same. As you can see the recipe did not include making the florentines. They are pretty easy to make but I went the easy route and bought some. They are nice but not as nice as home made ones. I think that if I was going to serve this at a dinner party I would make the florentines. I would probably make the vanilla ice cream too. Having said that, I served it with Weis' vanilla bean ice cream. It was very good for a supermarket ice cream. It wasn't super rich but rich enough for me. The seeds from the vanilla beans could be seen speckled throughout and the taste was terrific. I would highly recommend it. Actually, I would highly recommend the whole recipe. I think that it would look impressive for a dinner party and is a great make ahead dessert too. Plus it gave me a chance to use my lovely new bowl.

June 2003 - Vegetable Cobbler

I promise that I haven't abandoned my little blog. I went to Sydney for a holiday for a week and it has taken me a while to get back into the swing of things. I had a great time on holidays and really didn't want to come home, does anyone? I got to catch up with friends and met some new ones. It definitely was a lot of fun and just what I needed.

I had made my meal from this issue before I went away but I just didn't get around to actually blogging about it as I was racing around doing things before I left. However since I haven't gotten back into the swing of things I now find myself quite behind in not only the posts but the cooking as well. Oh well, I am sure that I can get it all done.

From issue #17 there were a few choices Valli Little's Lamb Shanks with Wasabi Mash sounded really good, however it didn't really fit into my vegetarian plan for the month. I was very nearly persuaded to make Gary Rhodes' Mixed Mushroom & Bacon Pie with Melted Blue Cheese Creme Fraiche, even though it wasn't a vegetarian meal. It sounded and looked incredible, although I was wary of the blue cheese after my last outing with blue cheese. I am not particularly enamoured of blue cheese but the pie sounded fantastic.

One night after a late day at work I was looking for something quick and easy to make for dinner and I decided to go with Valli Little's Vegetable Cobbler. I was very impressed with it. It was easy to make and very tasty and was made from things that I would normally have in my house. I made one quarter of the recipe, although decided it was too hard for the "scone" topping and I made half a recipe of that. I was going to put half on the dish and then just bake the other half but I forgot when I was putting the whole thing together and put it all on top so it was a bit carb heavy. Next time I make it I would also put some green vegetables into it, some quartered brussel sprouts, small broccoli florets or peas. Corn would also be nice in it and perhaps some quartered mushrooms. You really could put anything in it that you want. It was a wonderful vegetarian meal however it could also make a nice side dish with a roast.

June 2002 - Chickpea Lemon & Herb salad with Tomatoes and grilled Haloumi

Wow, time has just flown by. It is almost half way through the year and I am racing towards half way through my collection of delicious. magazines. I have decided that this month I am going to try and choose mostly vegetarian meals. I cannot guarantee they will all be as when I went through the magazines there were a couple of meals that really grabbed my attention that were definitely not vegetarian. I do try to eat vegetarian meals regularly. While I do love most meat I also need a break at times.

The Spaghetti alla Genovese on the cover of issue #6 looked really nice however after just completing a month of Italian meals which included a number of pasta dishes it was time for something different. Plus being a pasta with potato it is a bit carb heavy and I wanted something nice and light.

There was also Seared green beans with potatoes, mushrooms and six-minute eggs that would have made a wonderful lunch time meal but I was without beans and wasn't going to venture out of the house on a wet and rainy day to get any.

My first trip through this issue I had marked the (non-vegetarian) Little Lancashire Hotpots which sounded really nice but I was really looking for something that would be easy to make for lunch. Something quick, light and simple yet filling. Nadine Abensur's Chickpea Lemon & Herb salad with Tomatoes and grilled Haloumi fit the bill perfectly. It was incredibly tasty. I replaced the coriander in the recipe with mint which I think worked really well. It would probably also be really nice with basil. However I have mint growing in a pot and the basil is finished for the year. My flat-leaf parsley has finished too so I used curly parsley. I had a few roma tomatoes that needed to be used up so I cut one into eighths and put them in the fry pan with the haloumi slices and lightly coloured each cut side. I just love haloumi. Unfortunately this one wasn't one of the best. It was a bit hard and didn't "squeak" like some of the better ones do, that will teach me for buying the cheap one. The recipe was so easy to reduce down for one, although I do have enough ingredients for a second one, which is going to be my lunch tomorrow.

Chickpea Lemon & Herb salad with Tomatoes and grilled Haloumi

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 x 400g canned chickpeas, drained
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp each chopped parsley and coriander (I used parsley & mint)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus a little more for basting the cheese
• 1 garlic clove, finely sliced
• a dash of tamari (I used light soy sauce)
  
• a dash of Tabasco
• 1 small red onion or shallot, very finely chopped (optional)
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 225g haloumi cheese
• 100g wild rocket (I used a salad mix)
• 100g oily, herbed black olives
• 24 pieces of slow-roasted tomato quarters or cherry tomatoes, halved

Method

• Combine chickpeas with the lemon juice, parsley, coriander, olive oil, garlic, tamari and Tabasco, onion and salt and pepper. Set aside to allow flavours to combine.
• Cut the haloumi into batons 5mm thick. Baste with a little olive oil (I used garlic olive oil) and fry in a pan over a medium heat until golden and warmed through.
• Divide rocket leaves between plates top with chickpea salad, tomato pieces and olives. Top with haloumi slices and serve immediately.