HAPPY HOLIDAYS - flathead tails with new potatoes, snow peas and beets with a sour cream and dill dressing

We had some pretty amazing seafood down in Ulladulla. Now that we have been back home for over a month now, I am still trying to cling onto those holiday ideals of great food, great weather, great fun!! especially now that Christmas has finally arrived..... I bought some flathead tails from the market (they are also called flathead fillets) We had some delicious beetroot to use up from the garden too. And so this salad was born and my family loved it. I think you could even serve this as a fancy Summer meal with friends! CHEERS!!

ingredients

2 to 3 flathead tails per person (get them boned at the fish market)
approx 1/2 cup plain flour
salt and pepper
vegetable oil
1 small to medium sized beetroot per person
3 new potatoes per person
approx 12 snow peas per person
1 tub of sour cream
fresh sprigs of dill

how to make your flathead tails with new potatoes, snow peas and beets with a sour cream and dill dressing

Grab 2 pots and fill each of them 3/4 full of water. Pop them over a high heat and bring to a boil. Peel your beetroot and cut into bite size pieces. Boil for approx 5 mins or until tender. Cut the potatoes in half and boil for approx 8 mins or until tender. Drain well and set aside.

Meanwhile, take off the stalky bits of the snow peas and place in a microwave safe dish with 1/2 cup of water and cook for 4 mins (depending on how many you are cooking - this is for 4 people) Drain well and set aside. Take out the sour cream.

get out a frypan and pour in some vegetable oil (the level should come up about 2cm high)Put it over a medium high heat. Lay some baking paper down on a bench and empty the plain flour onto the paper. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Give it a little shake. Alternatively, do this in a bag and then pour it onto the paper. Lay each piece of fish onto the paper and lightly cover with the flour mix. Tapping off any excess. Check to see that the oil is ready by throwing in some of the flour. If it starts bubbling, it's ready. Pop in your fish and brown for a few minutes. Turn and then brown the other side. Done!
Now to assemble. Pop the snow peas on the bottom. give them a light sprinkle with salt. Add the beetroot and potatoes. Drizzle with sour cream and sprinkle over fresh dill. Place your flathead tails over the top and give it all good grinding of salt and pepper.

Merry Christmas Guys............See you 2011!!

berry jelly with passionfruit 2 ways

We were off to Roseville to catch up with some friends and finally see their new home. As usual, I was put in charge of dessert. I wanted to make something a little different this time. Cakes in Summer can be a kinda hard work...(I can't believe I just said that!) So I turned my thoughts to something fresh and frosty!

I think this might be the easiest dessert I've ever made. Strawberries; blueberries; jelly; frozen yoghurt and passionfruit pulp - yep, that's it! SO simple and yet SO delicious.

ingredients

The amount of the ingredients depends on the size of your dish and how many people you are making this for - the following amounts will serve 4 adults and 4 children

2 x packets of aeroplane jelly(I used strawberry but you could use raspberry or whatever flavour you prefer)
1 punnet of blueberries, washed
1 punnet of strawberries, washed, topped and halved
Passionfruit frozen yoghurt
passionfruit pulp (either fresh or tinned is fine too)
That's it!

how to make your Berry jelly with passionfruit 2 ways

Make the jelly (or 2 if you have a really large dish - make them separately and then pour into the dish)
Next, throw the fruit into the jelly making sure you see the lovely red side of the strawberries. Pop in the fridge. When it's set, it's ready to rock'n'roll.

Make sure everyone is seated and the plates and spoons are out on the table. Grab your icecream scoop and scoop out beautiful rounds of the frozen yoghurt, moving quickly. Then throw over the passionfruit pulp and wah-lah. Done!

I really wanted to try some crumbled up toasted marshmallows over the top. You know the ones that have the toasted coconut! I thought it could work but didn't get time to try it out. See what you think! Enjoy!

Baskets Filled With Summer...

I could feel a challenge coming. I'd ran out of time to go to the shops to grab some meat for dinner. I'd promised Hubby we'd have a BBQ. Didn't happen. Looking in the fridge and the cupboards I found: fancy pasta that was given to me for my birthday; a half block of tasty cheese; 2 cobs of corn; 1 zucchini; 1/2 cauliflower; some leftover ricotta and 3 slices of bread.... Can one make a meal out of this? Most definitely!


ingredients

2 cobs of corn, (260g of corn kernels)
1 zucchini, chopped into similar size as kernels (about 160g)
1/2 cauliflower
400g pasta (something like shells or baskets so you can stuff them)
50g bread crumbs
100g ricotta (I used fresh ricotta from the deli)
20g butter
1 tablespoon plain flour
3/4 cup milk
1 cup grated cheese

how to make your baskets filled with Summer

Get a large pot of salted water on a high heat. Pre-heat oven to 200C. Make breadcrumbs and set aside.
Cut kernels off cob and finely chop zucchini. Pop into a microwave proof dish, add 1/2 cup of water and microwave for 3 minutes. Drain and set aside. Chop cauliflower into florets and place in a microwave proof dish with 1/2 cup water and microwave for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
When water is boiling, throw in pasta and cook to manufacturers instructions.
Add 20g butter to a smallish pot and melt over low heat. Add 1 tablespoon of plain flour. Cook stirring until mix thickens. Gradually add the milk until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and stir through cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Drain pasta. Mix ricotta through zucchini and corn kernels with salt to taste.
Stuff pasta with zucchini, corn, ricotta mix.Place in base of dish. Top with Cauliflower, cheese sauce and finish with bread crumbs. Pop in your oven until crumbs are lovely and brown and everything has heated through, about 12-15mins.

Serves 4. enjoy!