Eggplant and Goats Cheese Involtini

I am a huge believer in giving. 

We are so lucky to live in an amazing country where we have so much.

Recently I became aware of the Oxfam Australia campaign for

 Stop Hunger, Start Growing.

Just $50 "can provide a family with tools for home gardening so 

they can grow their own food and stop hunger."

Why not donate to this? I did.

As part of the campaign they have compiled a cookbook! You can download it here.

I immediately fell in love with this recipe for Eggplant and Goats Cheese Involtini, created by another food blogger Scoff and Quaff.

The peperonata sauce is firstly prepared from capsicums, garlic, onion and parsley, then simmered away with some tinned tomatoes.

The eggplants were sliced and cooked on the griddle pan both sides until soft but still intact.

The filling is a combination of goats curd, ricotta, baby spinach and sage.

Simply add some filling and roll.

Spoon over the peperonata sauce, sprinkle with some cheese and bake.

The result is a delicious meal. 

The goats cheese was perfectly balanced against the substantial eggplant and rich sauce.

Even served on a plate I bought from Oxfam!

Please do go check out the wonderful collection of recipes and consider supporting such a worthy cause.

The Ultimate Sticky Bun

This is not the first time I have fallen for the cover photo on SBS Feast magazine and cooked the recipe. 

So this month was sticky buns, and they are certainly something special.

And if you are unable to buy your own copy of Feast this month they have the recipe posted on their website.

It involves preparing a dough, a very indulgent dough made of butter, eggs and sugar. The dough is left to rise and then rolled out and topped with the butter, cinnamon, sugar, pecan deliciousness.

Then roll, cut and place in a dish that you have already poured freshly made caramel and toasted pecans into.....yes that is what makes these amazing.

Once again allow the dough to rise and then bake.

They are briefly cooled before you spoon over the caramel you have saved and warmed for just this moment.

Let cool a little bit longer (mine was about 20 minutes) and then drizzle with icing and sprinkle over more toasted pecans.

I may have got a little carried away but you can almost see the scrolls!

We shared them with friends, still warm, out of the dish. The beautifully soft warm bread smothered with sticky caramel and crunchy pecans.....

And yes they were very well received, 'heavenly' may have been mentioned!

Kingfish Marinated in Squid Ink with Perfumed Fruit, Scallop and Coconut

Our favourite cafe Circa Espresso is full of interesting books.

On one visit we picked up the Bentley recipe book and were immediately taken by the recipe for Kingfish.

It actually seemed possible to create, with chef Brent Savage giving great tips on how to adapt home cooking to cheffy techniques.

I scribbled the recipe out on a serviette, as all food obsessed souls do?

The fruit is 'perfumed' with bergamot essence a couple of hours in advance.

The kingfish is cut into portions, coated in a mix of squid ink, oil and salt then popped in a ziplock bag.

The fruit and coconut (prepared with coconut cream and agar agar) are plated up.

The fish is cooked souv vide style by lowering the bag slowly in 67 degree water which pushes the air out.

The whole dish came together perfectly, the delicious fish, scented fruit, coconut puree with the soft scallop and the edible flowers. 

It was a floral light refreshing dish and felt like I was eating in a fine dining restaurant.

Still amazed it was created in our home.

Very special thanks to Restaurant Atelier for giving me the Bergamot essence.