Gnudi are delicious. Of course they are: they have two types of cheese in them. Gnudi are traditionally boiled in hot, salted water followed by an optional flash in a hot frying pan to crisp up the outsides; all very well and very delicious but a little bit involved. To simplify matters, I have oven-baked…
Category: dinner
Polenta, silverbeet & feta bake
Yotam Ottolenghi: I love the guy but his recipes can be exhausting. So many ingredients! So many herbs to wash and chop! So many spices to toast and grind! This sort of bullsh*t usually results in cookbooks becoming consigned to the bedtime reading pile, never again to make it back to the kitchen. But Ottolenghi…
Herbed fish cakes, charred pineapple salsa & slaw
A bowl comprised of individually prepared delicious things is one of my favourite ways to eat, as evidenced by the fact that my Katherine Smyth ceramic bowls are pretty much never sitting unused in the cupboard. Herbed fish cakes, charred pineapple salsa & slaw is currently one of my favourite things to eat from a bowl. It’s fresh, light and…
Lemon relish
Lemon relish is a delightfully easy and delicious condiment to add to your weeknight dinner repertoire. It’s fresh and zingy and surprisingly sweet despite containing an entire lemon. Delicious alongside crispy-skinned salmon, lemon relish perfectly cuts through the oily richness of the fish. Serve alongside some roasted or char-grilled asparagus, long-stem broccoli, or zucchini. So spring right now. Lemon relish…
Taco beef, pickled slaw, kimchi & gochujang
In the 1990s this recipe would have been named ‘fusion beef’, as it deliciously fuses together Mexican spices with Japanese miso and tamari and Korean condiments kimchi and gochujang. As it’s not the 1990s I won’t call it that, except maybe quietly in my head. I like to serve taco beef, pickled slaw, kimchi & gochujang by setting out bowls of…
Fennel broth with peas & baked ricotta
Fennel broth with peas & baked ricotta is the perfect thing to eat in spring. Asparagus would be a wonderful addition to this – once it gets down off its new season $26 per kilogram high horse. Time for a small boast: I made the ricotta for this from scratch; a process that’s actually pretty simple but…
Baked hoisin pork meatballs with greens & brown rice
Baked meatballs are bloody basic to make. Roasting the meatballs at a high temperature means you still get browned and crispy outsides without having to faff about with hot oil. Baked hoisin pork meatballs with greens & brown rice is midweek dinner perfection and any leftovers will make for a lunch that will be envy of your workmates the…
Preserved lemon butter
Butter! Bloody love it. Good on bread. Good on vegetables. Good on everything. Especially when you flavour it up with some lemon and thyme. Preserved lemon butter is delicious on roasted vegetables. On medium rare steak. On pan-fried fish. On steamed vegetables. Probably not on cake, but that’s over to you. Preserved Lemon Butter A Bon…
Miso coconut broth with crispy-skinned salmon & vegetables
Miso coconut broth features on my weeknight menu at least once a week. I serve it with oven-baked crispy-skinned salmon or steamed or grilled white fish, and always with plenty of steamed green vegetables and kumara. This recipe requires a small amount of coconut cream and as I make it on a regular basis, I freeze leftover coconut cream in an ice cube…
Peanut sauce, tofu, brown rice & all the vegetables you can eat
Most of my weeknight dinners are answers to the question of ‘how can I shove as many vegetables into my face in the most delicious manner?’ Miso coconut broth (coming to Cake for Breakfast soon!) is one answer and my version of Gado Gado is another. It also fits my ideal meal format of having a…
Smoked warehou & mushroom pie
If there’s anyone I’d trust implicitly with a fish pie recipe it’s Nigel Slater. Mushrooms and smoked fish aren’t a common combination but they work so well here. Rather than faffing about making a béchamel, the sauce quickly comes together using crème fraîche and grainy mustard. Genius, Nigel. Smoked warehouse & mushroom pie Based on a recipe by Nigel…
Roasted salmon, Brussels sprouts, red cabbage & kumara salad
A big bowl of vegetables topped with some pan-fried, grilled or steamed fish and a zingy dressing is my idea of a good weeknight dinner. This salad is a variation on this theme and as everything gets roasted together in the oven it’s simple to prepare with a minimum of dishes. And most importantly, it’s delicious….
cake for breakfast 