Weekend Cooking: Sunshine, Lemons and Sea Salt by Donna Hay

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was going to try to start cooking along more regularly with the Lamb's Ear Cookbook club. The February cookbook is Sunshine, Lemons and Sea Salt by celebrated Australian cook Donna Hay.

As you might note from the photo above, I actually own quite a few cookbooks by Donna Hay, and yet I don't often cook out of them. Part of the reason is that everything looks so beautiful that I am intimidated by it. And because it always looks so good, I assume it must be complicated. When I cook I do tastes good, I don't often do looks beautiful! I am therefore often guilty of using her books as though they are coffee table books. I mainly just look at the pictures. 

I am not only talking about the food. Even the book is beautiful, with great pictures, a nice layout, and a ribbon! I love it when a cookbook has a ribbon. It instantly makes it a better book!

The book starts with a chapter on styling where she gives tips on how to make your lunch or dinner settings look amazing by saying things like "consider those vintage copper pots, ceramic saucepans and teapots in your cupboards the unsung heroes of your table." I don't really have any of those in my cupboard**, but I get her point. The styling tips continue throughout the book, especially in the menu sections 

The book is then divided into a pretty normal structure with chapters called

Sunrise: Win the morning, win the day (yes, I suspect Donna Hay is a morning person! lol)

Light lunching

Summer nights, simple dinners

Sunny sides that double as snacks

Sweet and sunny treats

Anything-but-basic basics

From there the structure of the book changes into a section called Coastal Celebrations where we get four suggested menus for entertaining from starters to mains and desserts, including the aforementioned styling suggestions. The four menus are called

Sailing into lunch

Summer in bloom

There's no party like a taco party

Coastal 

I have already cooked quite a few things from this book, but there is more I would like to make including the recipes below.

Tomato and mascarpone tart - This was so delicious and would be super easy if you bought premade shortcrust pastry

Crushed potato galette - We served this when we had family for dinner, and it was a hit. Soft on the inside, crunchy outside. Will definitely do again. 

Crispy lemon and garlic roast chicken - A bit unusual with the use of miso paste but definitely tasty and we plan to make this one again.

Thai chicken in lime and coconut - It's always good to have another tasty meatball recipe. I am thinking about having a whole week of different meatballs but I am not sure the rest of my house would agree

Korean fried chicken burgers - Making this tonight!

Sticky soy and miso chicken

Passionfruit powder puffs

Lemon and elderflower bundt cake

Passionfruit meringue tart

Crispy meringues with poached vanilla pears

Originally, I borrowed this book from the library, but we have already cooked quite a lot out of the book, and some of the recipes could end up in our regular recipe rotation, so I did end up buying it!

When I was thinking about recipes to share, I originally had something else in mind, but when I said we had made this recipe in my Weekly Meals section last week, Jackie mentioned that she was curious about this recipe so I decided to share this one instead. 

Thai chicken in lime and coconut (Donna Hay)

750g chicken mince
6 Thai lime leaves (also known as kaffir lime leaves)
2 tbspn finely grated ginger
2 tbspn finely grated lemongrass
2 tbspn finely chopped coriander leaves (also known as cilantro)
1/2 cup (30g) panko breadcrumbs

Lime and coconut sauce

1 tbspn grapeseed or vegetable oil
1/3 cup  (100g) store-bought Thai red curry past
400ml coconut milk
1/2 cup (125ml) good quality chicken stock
1 tbspn fish sauce
1 1/2 tbspn lime juice
1 tbspn caster (superfine) sugar
2 Thai lime leaves, finely shredded, extra

To serve

Extra coriander (cilantro) sprigs, shiso leaves (optional) and lime wedges

Place the chicken, lime leaves, ginger, lemongrass, coriander and panko in a large bowl and mix to combine. Roll the mixture into 16 balls and place on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.

To make the lime and coconut sauce, heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and curry paste and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.

Add the coconut milk, stock, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and extra lime leaves and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and reduced. 

Add the chicken and cook for 10 minutes, turning halfway, or until cooked through.

Serve with the extra coriander, shiso leaves (if using) and a squeeze of lime. 

**I have asked my husband to rejig the storage in one of the spare bedrooms so that I can reorganise to see if I have any of things I could use for smart styling. The challenge then will be to fill it up, right?

Weekly meals

Saturday - Scrambled eggs on toast
Sunday - Mexican Chicken and Rice
Monday - Pork Schnitzel, mash, mushroom sauce and broccoli
Tuesday - Nasi Goreng
Wednesday - Chicken green curry pie
Thursday - Chicken, mushroom and broccoli pasta bake
Friday - Takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Top Ten Tuesday: Library Love!

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Love/Valentine’s Freebie. I am adding my own twist because while Valentine's Day is coming up, and we do always do something, February 14 is also Library Lover's Day. My Top Ten Tuesday is therefore 10 of the 21 books I have out from the library right now. These are the books that are due to be returned soonest 

First though, I thought I would share a pic of my local library which is a gorgeous building itself inside and out.  The building was opened back in 2013 but it still feels very new. This picture is a bit old as the trees have grown quite a bit. 

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters - Reading and enjoying this at the moment.

Antarctica by Claire Keegan - I am working my way through Claire Keegan's backlist

Lessons in Love at the Seaside Salon by Sophie Green - I have been meaning to try this Aussie author for a while now!

Sunshine, Lemons and Sea Salt by Donna Hay - I have cooked a few things out of this already and just bought my own copy!

In the Paris Fashion by Sophie Beaumont - I have really enjoyed Sophie Beaumont's other books so I am looking forward to this one!

The Dog Sitter by Zara Stoneley - I love Sue Heath's books so now I am reading what I can from her other author name, Zara Stoneley.

Secrets by Judi Morison - This was the Rachael John's book club choice for January.

Sit, Stay, Love by Amy Hutton - This author was an author for the day in an online book group I am in.

The Golden Hour by Kate Lord Brown - I have read a Kate Lord Brown book years ago. It must be time to read another.

The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson - I really enjoyed the last book I read by this author!

Weekend Cooking: What I Baked (In My Kitchen) in December

Happy New Year!!

The first Saturday of the month is when I share all the things that I baked in the previous month. There really a lot of baking done this month as I have been busy doing things like going to concerts and the like.

As you would expect, it's been a busy baking month in December!

I started with a Gingerbread Souffle. When I was writing my post for a few weeks ago about Lebkuchen, I searched for the word gingerbread and was reminded that years ago I wrote a post about seeing French chef Eric Lanlard make a Gingerbread Mousse and that it didn't seem that difficult!  After all these years, I made it, and it wasn't that difficult!! You can't really see it in these ramekins but it did puff up beautifully! And I would make it again, maybe a touch less rum!

Next up was the Raspberry Swirl Pavlova which I made for the family Christmas with my husband's kids! I am quite pleased with how this turned out! This is a Donna Hay recipe.

The I made Orange Poppyseed Syrup Cake. I bought oranges to make the aforementioned Lebkuchen but that didn't happen, so then I decided to make Orange Poppy Seed Syrup cake from Emelia Jackson's book First, Cream the Butter and Sugar.

And my final bake for December was for a family dinner we hosted on New Year's Eve and for dessert I made a Raspberry Peach Meringue Tart which was another Donna Hay recipe. This was a lot of fun to make. It starts with cooking the filo pastry, then making the fruit filling and then topping with a meringue, so it really is just a case of putting each of the individual components together.  The recipe says to put this under the grill, but we took the opportunity to use our kitchen torch to flame the meringue.

I was very spoilt for Christmas and got a few different food related gifts. First up, I received two new cookbooks. The first one is the Donna Hay cookbook that I got the above two recipes from, and the other is Baking Yesteryear by B Dylan Hollis. I really enjoy watching his Youtube videos where he makes old recipes that sound....interesting. The recipes in the cookbook start in and then go through to the 1980's plus a chapter of the worst sounding recipes. Here's an example of one of his videos.

A couple of months ago I was making square chocolate cakes, but then I realised that I really needed a square platter. It turns out that square platters are not on trend at the moment and when I looked I couldn't find one. Fortunately, someone found one for me!

I was also given an ice cream accessory for my Kitchenaid! I need to clean out the freezer in order to be able to use it as you need to freeze the bowl for at least 16 hours in order to make ice cream. 

How cute is this tiny sieve! I am not sure where I saw this now, but I mentioned it to my husband and next thing I knew I had received a package! The idea is that you can put a small amount of icing sugar/cocoa/whatever in the bowl, then turn it over and sprinkle! If nothing else, I like to play with it while I am working, but I can't wait to actually use it for it's intended use!

When my sister and her family visited us on New Year's Eve, and they bought us some homegrown produce. You can't really tell in this photo, but the zucchini is about 50 cms long which means that it is huge! And the lemons are massive too! The big question is what to cook with them.

I am sharing this post with In My Kitchen hosted at Sherry's Pickings.

Weekly meals

Saturday -  Steak and chips

Sunday -  Tuscan Chicken Pasta Bake

Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday - Chilli with rice

Wednesday - Baked Potatoes with Chilli

Thursday - Chicken Parma

Friday -Out for dinner

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf

 

 

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is The Ten Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf (Maybe share your holiday book haul?).

I don't really ask for books for Christmas, so my list today is a combination of the last books I added to my Kindle and the two books I did get! Let's start with those

Christmas: Feasts and Treats by Donna Hay - The Raspberry Swirl Pavlova I made for our family Christmas dinner comes from this book.

Baking Yesteryear: The Best Recipes from the 1900s to the 1980s by B Dylan Hollis - I love the videos that this author makes where he tries out some truly ...interesting... recipes from the past!

Make a Wish by Nicola Marsh - This is a very, very short story which serves as a prequel to a book called Did Not Finish. On the basis of this, Did Not Finish could be a lot of fun.

My So-Called Sex Life by Lauren Blakely - This was a freebie!

Inheritance by Nora Roberts - It's been an age since I read or listened to a Nora Roberts book, so I picked this one up on audio.

The Austrian Bride by Helen Parusel - This is a review book for January.

Foxden Acres by Madalyn Morgan - This was a freebie too. I picked it up because it sounds really interesting.

The Christmas Trip by Sandy Barker - This is a follow up to The Christmas Swap which I read a couple of weeks ago.

Lola & The Man by Elise Darcy - Bought this one for the cover, which is ironic seeing as my Kindle only has a black and white screen.

The Last Phone Booth in Manhattan by Beth Merlin and Danielle Modafferi  - This was my December First Reads choice

Speaking on 1-clicking, did you see that Stuff Your Kindle is on today! Thousands of freebie books. Not that I really need anymore as I can't get around to reading the ones I already have, but I will still be taking a look in case there is anything interesting.

Top Ten Tuesday: Last Ten Christmas Books I Have Read

 

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the them

e is Books I Hope Santa Brings/Bookish Wishes. I don't usually get anything other than cookbooks for Christmas so instead I am sharing the last ten Christmassy books I have read. 

The Christmas Swap by Sandy Barker - Last year I shared ten Christmas books on my Kindle that I hadn't yet read. This is the only one that I have since read, and that was just over the last few days!! And yes, I have added more!

Christmas Feasts and Treats by Donna Hay - I was given this cookbook a couple of days ago and I have flicked through and picked out a few things to try

The Secret History of Christmas by Bill Bryson - I listened to this on audio and thoroughly enjoyed it. So much so, my husband and I then listened to it together in the car the week after!!

The Christmas Love Letters by Sue Moorcroft - I enjoyed this book about family secrets being revealed at Christmas (my review)

In the Greek Midwinter by Mandy Baggot - I've never thought of Athens as a Christmas destination, but this book could have influenced me to think otherwise (my review)

Celebrations in Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen - This is the latest entry in the Bellbird Bay series (my review)

Finding Love at the Christmas Markets by Jo Thomas - If there is one author who I might choose to fit another Christmas read in by it would be Jo Thomas!

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett - Listening to this audio has become a Christmas tradition for me. I am currently listening to this one after listening to it for the last two years.

The Great Christmas Cook Off by Helen Buckley - This was a lot of fun to read! Think Celebrity Bake Off at Christmas time (my review) 

Midnight in the Snow by Karen Swan - I really need to get back to reading Karen Swan

Do you like reading Christmas themed books?

Six Degrees of Separation: From The Naked Chef to In Bibi's Kitchen

 

 

Welcome to this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best.  The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links.  I am also linking this post up with The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz. 

 

This month we are starting with The Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver, which is a different place to start. I am very interested to see how people make their chains this month. I've decided to stay within the cookbook world for my chain.

I have a few Jamie Oliver cook books so I thought I would start with one of those - Jamie Oliver's Great Britain

 

When I lived in the UK one of the great TV cooks was Delia Smith, so I am choosing her Complete Illustrated Cookery Course. This was one of the few cookbooks I bought back to Australia with me when I returned in 1999. The rest of the cookbooks that I had acquired were left behind.

Another author whose books I did bring back from the UK was Ainsley Harriott, so my next book is his Barbecue Bible. 

A number of years ago now, I saw Ainsley Harriott do a live presentation at a Food and Wine Show. Another cook who I saw live in a similar presentation was Donna Hay. My next choice is her Modern Baking cookbook which I have sitting on my shelves.

Over the years, Donna Hay has appeared as a guest on Masterchef Australia, as has Josh Niland, who does amazing things with fish, so my next choice is Take One Fish: The New School of Scale-to-Tail Cooking and Eating

Josh Niland's book was a choice for Jamie Oliver's Cookbook Club, as was my final choice, In Bibi's Kitchen by Hawa Hassan and Julie Turshen




Next month the starting point is The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey.

Top Ten Tuesday: Kitchen, Bakes and Cakes - Yum!

 

 

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This 

week the theme is Favourite Words.  I thought that I would tie this theme into the fact that it is National Cookbook Month so I have been focussing on cookbooks during this month as part of Weekend Cooking.  I am therefore choosing words like bake, cake, kitchen and associated words as my words!

I recently joined a Facebook group which is a monthly cookbook group. This month they are cooking from any Australian Women's Weekly cookbooks. These are just two of the AWWC cookbooks I have. I posted about the Birthday Cakes one here.

Nadiya Hussein come to prominence as a result of winning Great British Bake Off and has gone from strength to strenght. I have shared recipes from Nadiya Bakes here and from Bake Australia Great here.

Donna Hay is one of Australia's best known celebrity cooks! I have shared several of her recipes over the years. Marian Keyes is a really well known author. She shared how baking helped her with mental health issues. Here's my review.

I currently have Beatrix Bakes out of the library! 

Moving now to the word kitchen because this is where all the bakes and cakes happen! My review of Kitchen Counter Cooking School can be found here.

I just posted about In Bibi's Kitchen a couple of weeks ago, whereas Bill Granger was one of the earliest cooks that I posted about here on my blog!