Deeper into the Blue - or dinner of Frutti di mare

Karma or not (see the previous post "Feeling blue") but my relationship with blue blossomed to the point that, when I was about to host a dinner party, it become a colour scheme for a table setting.  But I didn't want my guests to associate the colour blue with the food I was about to cook.  The reason being that according to colour psychology blue is one of the most popular colours, but it is one of the least appetizing.

So I thought I'd better call it "Frutti de mare" instead.

Menu

Mini vol au vents filled with tea smoked salmon mousse

Sesame seed crusted crab cakes served with sweet chili sauce

Roast barramundi with a medley of seasonable vegetables

Orange and red onion salad

Wine: Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc

This menu is ideal if you are having guests who are pescaterians or if their religious dietary inclinations are unknown to you.

Tea smoked salmon mousse

You need (for 8 people):

16 small size vol au vents

2 pieces, appx 500g of fresh salmon (tuna is absolutely fine)

2 tbsp of white sugar

2 tsp of sea salt

2 tbsp of jasmine rice

2 tbsp of aromatic tea (jasmine, pekoe)

2-3 tbsp whole egg mayonnaise or crème fresh (to your liking)

1 tsp of horseradish cream

1 tbsp of capers

1 medium Spanish onion, finely chopped

Lemon juice to taste

Bunch of coriander (as much or as little as you like), chopped

Bunch of dill – ditto

A drop or two of red Tabasco sauce (optional)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

It is the first time in my life that I have smoked any food but I have to say if you are armed with the proper cookware, it is not that difficult and the result is a heavenly delisious, moist fish. A wok is ideal but it has to have a rack and a lid which mine doesn’t, so I opted for a bamboo steamer which works well as long as it sits snugly on top of the pan leaving enough space between them to accommodate the ingredients for the smoking process.

Prepare your fish by sprinkling it with a mix of sugar and salt, then place into the steamer and cover with the lid. Line the bottom of the pan with foil, mix remaining sugar, jasmine rice and any flavoured tea of your liking and pour over the foil, cover loosely with another sheet. Place it on a burner on medium heat and wait until the smoking process kicks in, once you smell and see the smoke rising from the pan, place the steamer on top and smoke for about 8 minutes. The fish should be of a pale pink colour inside and out, but make sure not to overcook it as the process continues even when you take it off the stove.  I prom

Once it has cooled down, flake it, mash it and mix with all the ingredients. Adjust the seasoning to your liking, if the mixture looks too thick, add more mayo or thick cream. And, of course, if you cannot be bothered with "all that jazz", smoked salmon from the supermarket will do the trick, except I'd rather blend it with all other ingredients. This recipe is very versatile and almost every ingredient could be substituted.  The trick is to make sure that the filling is not runny and have some body to it.

Upon your guests arrival, warm up the vol au vents in the oven for a couple of minutes, fill up with the mousse and garnish with a twig of dill and a quarter of a slice of lemon. Serve immediately.

While your guests enjoy the hors d'oeuvres, get on with the entree

Sesame crusted crab cakes

You need (for 8 people, 2 per person)

1 kg of crab meat (I just bought the packet of crab meat from the supermarket)

Half a cup of coriander leaves, finely chopped

Half a cup of spring onions, finely chopped

1 tbsp of whole egg mayonnaise

½ cup of breadcrumbs

1 egg

Splash of Tabasco (optional)

1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper

Flour for dusting

Bread crumbs for crumbling

2 eggs for frying

Vegetable oil

3-4 tbs spoons of sesame seeds

Rocket or any fresh leaves to serve

When opening the packet of crab meat, make sure to get rid of any excess liquid that might be in it. Combine the first nine ingredients and give it a good mix to achieve consistency, give it a taste and adjust the seasoning.   If the mix seems a bit runny, add more bread crumbs.  Take a table spoon and scoop the crab mixture, roll it into a ball with your hands, then flatten between your palms and place on a tray.  Continue with the rest of the mixture.  Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.  Take two clean dry flat plates, scoop 2-3 tbsp of flour onto one plate and spread around, beat two eggs in a bowl, spread sesame seeds onto another plate. 

Take the crab cakes out of the fridge, heat up the frying pan or two, to speed the process, pour vegetable oil, take one cake, dip both sides of it into flour first, dust off the excess, then tip it into the egg mixture, then into the sesame seeds and into the pan.  Make sure that the heat is moderate, fry for about 5 minutes on each side until golden brown, place on a paper towel to drain off the oil excess. 

To serve – place some rocket leaves in the middle of a plate, place two cakes on top and garnish with a slice of lemon.  Serve sweet chili sauce separately.

Roast fish fillets with a medley of seasonable vegetables

You need (for 8 people):

8 X 200g any white fish fillets

2 bulbs of fennel, sliced into rounds

1 medium red onion, sliced into rounds

3 tbsp oregano, chopped

3 tbs thyme, chopped (I used dry options for both)

80 ml extra virgin olive oil

2 red capsicums, deseeded and sliced into strips

8 vine-ripened tomatoes, quartered

2 tbsp capers

8 anchovy fillets

150 gr Ligurian olives (they are not pitted, so you may substitute them with kalamata olives which are)

1 tsp chili flakes

4 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley

2 cup of white wine

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Lemon wedges to serve

Preheat the oven to 200C.  Place all the vegetables on a backing tray and give them a good mix.  Mix through the capers, olives, anchovies and herbs, sprinkle chillis, season with salt and pepper, pour the wine and place in the oven.  Roast for one hour, stirring occasionally, the vegetables should be tender and the tomatoes melting into the sauce.

Remove from the oven, snuggle the fish down into the medley, drizzle with the remaining oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place it back into the oven for about 10 minutes or to your liking.

To serve – spoon the medley onto a plate, place a piece of fish on top, sprinkle freshly chopped parsley and garnish with a slice of lemon. 

Orange and red onion salad

You need (for 8 people):

4 oranges

1 big red onion, thinly sliced into rings

300 grams of rocket leaves or mescalume salad

2 tbsp of dill, chopped

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Carefully peel oranges, then slice horizontally into about 1 cm thick slices.  Scatter rocket leaves evenly on a big plate, arrange oranges, place onion rings on top, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  To finish off – sprinkle over with chopped dill. 

The salad could be served either with the entree or the main course, it complements both dishes.

Lazy summer lunch

Last Sunday we invited my husband’s friends for lunch. The friendship goes way back to the days when my husband lived in South Africa, and he was very excited when the couple contacted him here in Sydney. Between allergies and the plethora of choices people make in terms of what they do and don't eat, you have to be very careful about what you cook for guests. In this case, it turned out that one of my guests was a pescaterian, but apart from that there were no other dietary restrictions. Did I mention that it's currently summer in Australia and it was a perfect day to have lunch alfresco? To impress my guests I covered the table with a tablecloth my mother-in-law bought for me in Cape Town; it's white with red apples painted over it.

The colourful chairs were another DIY project of mine. They were originally plain, untreated pine wood that looked pretty boring to me so I bought six small sample pots in different colour paints and painted them. 

Menu

Cold Gazpacho soup

Smoked salmon roulade

Watermelon salad with feta cheese and herbs

Home made hummus

Asian-style cabbage salad

Fresh fruit

Wine: Pieroth Blue 2007 Kreuznacher Kronenberg Nahe 2007

If you wanted to add a hot dish to this menu, you could easily cook the Asian-infused Barramundi from one of my previous posts.  If you wanted to splurge a little more, you could place fresh oysters or prawns on your table.

As I started preparing the soup an interesting thought came to mind: according to colour psychology red is the colour of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power and determination, as well as passion, desire, and love. Red is a very emotionally intense colour; it enhances the  human metabolism, increases the respiration rate and raises blood pressure. Yet almost every dish on my cold summer menu was red...

Gazpacho 

When I made this soup for the very first time (not sure if I can use the word “cook” since there is no cooking involved), the recipe I chose called for fresh tomatoes. As this fruit is perpetually quite expensive in Australia - $4/kilo at least - and they all need to be peeled, I decided to cut corners by buying canned tomatoes instead! Everyone always likes the soup anyway so I continue to use tinned tomatoes instead of fresh.

You need (for 8 people):

2 x 400g tinned peeled tomatoes (your preferred brand)

2 x red capsicum, cut into chunks

1 x medium cucumber, peeled and cut into chunks

1 x medium Spanish onion (red!)

2 x garlic cloves (but I adore garlic and so I use four or five instead)

2 TBS Extra virgin olive oil

1 TBS red wine vinegar

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

A drop or two of red Tabasco sauce (optional)

A handful of basil or parsley leaves (optional)

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz to your desired consistency - I like it smooth but with a bit of texture. Check the seasoning and adjust to your taste. If you feel that the soup is rather thick, add a bit of warm water.

If you and your guests are feeling a bit adventurous, add a splash of vodka to the soup. Serve cold with sprinkles of chopped basil or parsley and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Serve with warm, crusty bread.

Watermelon Salad with Feta and Herbs

The first time I ate this salad was in Bali at a very cool restaurant in Seminyak called KU DE TA. The combination of the sweet watermelon, the salty feta and the heat from the chilies was very unusual and worked well with all the other dishes we had there.

You need:

1/4 x ripe watermelon (keep it refrigerated until the last moment)

100 grams x goat cheese or feta (whichever takes your fancy)

A bunch of coriander leaves

1 x Spanish onion (red)

A bunch of mint leaves

A sprinkle of dried red chili flakes (if you like the heat)

Extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Remove the watermelon skin from its flesh, cut the fruit into chunks approximately 2cm x 2cm in size - try to make them not too small as they will lose their liquid and become mushy. Crumble in the cheese and finely sliced red onion. Add in the chopped herbs, salt and pepper and give it all a toss.  Do not work it too hard, try to keep it crisp and cold.

Hummus

This is great as a dip on its own or as an accompaniment to a meat dish, spread on flat bread. The beauty of this version is that if you don’t have chickpeas, other legumes such as cannelloni beans work just as well.

You need:

1 x 400 gram can of chickpeas

3 TBS tahini (found in the Kosher or Health Food section in your supermarket)

1 tsp sumac (or, if you don’t have this on your spice rack, a squeeze of lemon juice and 1 tsp paprika are a good substitute)

2-3 cloves of garlic (as I told you before, I adore garlic)

Salt and pepper

Drain the chickpeas but save the liquid.  Place all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz until smooth. Check the seasoning and adjust according to your taste. If the paste looks too thick, add the reserved liquid, another spoonful of olive oil and one more of tahini. Blitz again.

Place the paste into a bowl, make a well in the middle, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with paprika to serve.

                       Sweet and Sour Cabbage Salad with Slivered Almonds

This salad is another versatile dish that can be served just as an entree/side dish or add shredded chicken to it and you have a lunch dish.

You need (for 8 people):

1/2 x white cabbage or Chinese cabbage

4 sprigs green onion

1/2 packet fried noodles (you will find them in the Asian section of your supermarket)

3 TBS toasted slivered almonds

Olive oil

White wine vinegar

Caster sugar

Soy sauce

Use a big, deep bowl that will allow you to mix the salad easily. Finely shred the cabbage, finely slice the onions, combine, toss in the almonds and mix.

For the dressing
Pour around 6 TBS vinegar, 4 TBS olive oil, 3 TBS soy sauce and 2 TBS caster sugar into a screw top jar, give it a good shake and taste. You should be able to taste some heat, sweetness and sourness all at once. I suggest using regular olive oil rather than extra virgin. Make sure you have enough dressing as the cabbage will soak most of it up; about 150 grams. Adjust the ingredients to your taste but bear in mind that it’s meant to be a sweet and sour salad so you'd want both of those flavours.

Pour the dressing over the salad, give it all a good mix and sprinkle with the fried noodles just before serving as they become soggy very fast.  When serving, scoop from the bottom of the dish where the dressing is.

Also, do not forget that fresh vegetables cut into bite size pieces, sprinkled with your favourite dressing is an all time winner, as well as being eye catching and a major time saver!

The beauty of these dishes is that they are all served cold and are delightfully refreshing on hot days. Also, most of the preparation can be done in advance with minimum effort and they all taste just as good the next day!

Holiday Feasting

An eye-catching tablecloth and fresh flowers - what more do you need?