In the past. . .

I miss my fancy cooking these days, daily meals and basic preparation of dishes that what has been happening right now.  Looking back at my work is very entertaining, spring cooking in the past could be interesting to you, just like eggs in the nest, it is good to look at and tasty to taste, and other extraordinary cooking, mainly Christmas is not a far way to go, you may like the recipe of my Christmas Turkey, simply type Turkey to search.

Here are the pictures the times I was very creative and adventures in cooking.

Show And Tell

Cabbage Tree

It is not *Livistona australis, but it is my cooking.  I borrow the name as the dish reminds me of a fan, the fan palm - a family of the cabbage tree palm.  It is a slow cooking style. I use green and red cabbage stuffed with meat. Also, it can be done with vegetarian filling-chestnuts, potato and almonds.  The dish is served either hot or room temperature.  It is delicious food, and the flavour is intensified if you keep it for the next day. 

*Livistona australis (Cabbage Palm, Fan Palm, Cabbage Tree Palm) Large, attractive fan palm. Growth to 30 m, crowned with shiny leaves 3-4.5 m long. In summer it bears flower spikes with sprigs of cream-white flowers. The fruit is red, turning black when it is ready to be peeled and planted. Distribution: Widespread along Australian east coast, in moist open forests, rain forests, often swampy sites. Photo © Australian National Botanic Gardens.

Cabbage Tree - in Susy's Sunday Best Series

Suitable for A Meal is Shared At Table

  

What   Is    It?
I am not sure, a wildflower?  The wildflowers can be found somewhere at the outback.  I believed a lot of beautiful wildflowers are there.  Australia wildflowers are very famous, people from all over the world come to visit and see, to enjoy the astonishing flowers.

I am showing what  I can do with cabbages, this time white cabbage. Sauté shredded cabbage as Javanese do to cook Orak-Arik which needs some eggs to make the dish.  But this is caramelising the cabbage to get extra flavour and an effect on the plate.  It goes very well with pan-fried rustic kangaroo fillets, taste-wise.  Only the presentation is telling a story.  Well what is it, you all can guess. . . . Tell me!

I do hope that you enjoy my Show and Tell, It has been fun to share the story with you.

Pine of Rome

The Pine of Rome with the Gnarled Trunk-Stump and Its Fruits

Using the deep-fried technique, prepare a light batter, and making salpicon mixed vegetables as well. 

The plan was well executed, and the final result is a good looking tree, the Pine Stone.
The Gnarled Stump and the fruit-pine looked good, and we enjoyed eating them.

I did not see the fruit of the Pine Stone in Rome, it could be I did not look closely as I was happy enough to look at a distant, the shape of the Tree is so artistic, it adds the beauty of any garden.

We have not been back since we visited Vatican-Rome, but a short visit to Tuscany and revisited The Leaning Tower of Pisa, and enjoyed the Pine Stone trees along the road which we could see, or merely a glance from afar.

Pine nuts are delicious; apparently, they come from this Pine Stone fruits.  The process of getting them are complicated, that makes the price of pine nuts is very dear.  Lots of recipes using pine nuts but often I omit it, using almond nuts instead.

The Pine Nuts are easy to be found in any market, supermarkets here in Australia.
It has a delicate taste, very creamy and tender.  Add into savoury and sweet dishes.
Indeed, we can enjoy the cooking preparation using these nuts.  Pesto is one of them, and good to have ready in the refrigerator.  Serve it with red grill meat instead of the rich, creamy dressing.  Or tossing it with pasta, pasta and pesto, you will have a yummy dish.

Using Pine Nuts

Radicchio and Rocket Salad with Pine Nuts

It goes well with Frittata.

Mixed mesclun, bitter lettuces I used, and add sliced roasted carrot to give a touch of sweetness as for the dressing was only olive oil.


It is beautiful home cooking, a quick and simple meal but delicious.  My thought was to share the idea, and I am sure everyone cooking without the recipe.

The Frittata is served warm or cold.  It can be handy for the following day to have for lunch if you are lucky enough to have a leftover.

What the next dish you would like to do with the Pine Nuts?  Sweet dishes-desserts and cakes, I let you decide, creativity brings us joy.
I believe the right ingredients, simple food preparation is the best.  Is cooking an art.  Well, I let you give the answers.

One thing I know and love doing is to explore and play with fresh produce and ingredients to make the food with the difference.  Just like these dishes - The Pine of Rome.

Pumpkin
Pumpkin garnished with Austalia Lamb is an excellent dish for any occasion.
It is a treat for us, the dish is suitable for Sunday Best; it has to prepare with care, and it takes a lot of time too. The flavour is based on Middleastern cooking. What you need a whole pumpkin, baked until cooked and soft.The meat to serve with: Grilled or pan-fried rack of lamb
Spices: 

Rack of Lamb on a bed of Pumpkin

cumin, chilli, garlic and onion salad or cooked greens
Rice Pilaf or Sourdough Bread
Oil to dress.
Rustic and beautiful looking pumpkin served with lamb was a treat for Sunday Dinner.  It was eaten in silence, for a while. Were they hungry? No, not really.  They were trying to work out the flavour.  They were not wrong at all as they were promised of the Middlestern flavours, but they did not find any.  Truly and truly correct.
For the last minutes, I changed my mind, I cooked the lamb with mild spices-pepper and lemon juice.  The lamb was tender and soft, with a subtle flavour.
The small served of the dish was good enough for them.  Less is more!  Rack of lamb on a bed of roasted pumpkin went a long way, beautifully served for four.



Beef for Bravery
Cook in perfection, the whole Beef Eye Fillet is the king of the king for the red meat.  


The Breaking of the Bread.

The appreciation is beyond to describe when you are holding the bread in the process of sharing it.


Fancy that Cakes
Love beautiful cakes, sweets times.





Rice
Rice Cone and Garnishes

Sweet Glutenous Rice-Wajik   

Chicken
Easy Cooking for Spring




Fish
Delicious and Delicate Fish.  Adding hot spicy oil onto steamed fish.




Pork
Pork Cooked to Perfection.  It's Perfect Pink.





Turkey
Getting Ready for Christmas.
Recipe, search on this Blog.




Springtime
Cooking with eggs, lots of recipes and ideas you can find in my cooking.

Celebrate Spring with the delicious sweet-savoury eggs resting on the nest.  The Bird-Nest.


 Viva Vegetables
Pasta and Green Vegetable Pesto.

Greens Pancake Pie 

Recently, I cooked with greens using the silverbeet and mixed herbs of my vegetable garden.  They were easy enough, no recipes were needed.  There they are ideas for you.
Green vegetables, herbs to make the sauce add Parmesan cheese and olive oil to dress the pasta.  Delicious.  You can improvise and cook these green dishes,  Have Fun and Happy Cooking.




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Susy