Twice-Cooked Goats Cheese Souffle with Proscuitto, Peach and Pomegranate Salad

Pomegranates are one of the prettiest fruits i've seen. I've only eaten them a couple of times, but their juicy seeds, reminiscent of jewels of ruby, provide a delicious burst of sweetness which picks up any salad. Unlike a lot of other exotic fruits, pomegranate seeds are very palatable even for the fussiest eater. They almost taste like confectionery. 

This fresh, summery dish is fairly light, and good eats on a warm night. Don't be scared by souffles, they're really not that difficult!! I promise.

Kangaroo, Kipfler & Apple Salad with Pistachio Aioli

I've been meaning to cook something with kipflet potatoes for ages! They are definitely the best potatoes i've ever eaten, full of flavour and not needing the addition of cheese, butter or salt to be tasty. Unfortunately you do pay more for them, so make sure that when you cook with them, you make them a star of the dish where you can actually taste them. For scalloped potatoes, pass on the kipflers.

I really just put this salad together with what i had lying around from other recent recipes. All i knew was that i wanted kangaroo and kipflers. Everything worked out delicious though!

Gelo di anguria

Lately i've been cooking so many rich and/or heavy desserts, loaded with cream, or fried, or chocolate covered. So i went on a hunt for something of simple tastes, nice and refreshing. And this is as close as i got bar strawberry soup or fruit salads.

I'm going to have a stab at Italian here and guess that gelo di anguria means something along the lines of gel of watermelon. You could replace the watermelon with any other fruit really, though i think citrus juice would be too overpowering.

You can buy rosewater from a good delicatessen though a word of warning: go easy on it. It's potent stuff!!

Bunuelos & Chocolate Dipping Sauce

Mmmm churros. The weather has turned a little bit lately, still beautiful during the day but with the slightest nip to the evenings. And my mind is already wandering to wintry comfort foods! And i believe the definition of comfort is deep fried balls of bread, crisp on their outer and fluffy on their inner. Of course, any epicurean knows that true comfort also involves a warming bowl of melted chocolate to slather said bunuelos in. 

For those who don't really know bunuelos, they are simply churros in a ball shape, or in the case of my attempt, a glob shape.

Rosemary & Garlic Lamb Rack on a bed of Mashed Peas

If you want to easily impress someone for a meal, the lamb rack is a pretty good option to go for. Succulent medallions of lamb with just the right amount of fat attached to almost decorative frenched bones always make me salivate.  I much prefer to buy lamb cutlets on the rack so that i can roast them; pan frying them leaves me feeling that they're a little too oily. The best time to cook this dish would be spring, when both the lamb and the peas will be at their best.

Red Cooked Pork Ribs

When i mentioned red cooked pork to many of my Singaporean or Malaysian friends (namely Darryl) they sometimes go into a bit of a frenzy, describing the gelatinous texture of the skin and fat as though it were a heavenly cloud. 

Personally, prior to trying red cooked pork, pork belly and Asian cut pork ribs were a vastly different affair of love for me. My love was of the crisp crackling skin of the deep fried bbq pork ribs, or the crunchy goodness of Perry's caramelized pork. So when i ordered red cooked pork belly at David's in Prahran, i was shocked to see this almost black, shiny, quivering cube of... something... served to me.

After a lot of research i still don't know how they got that pork looking so very black. Nobody online seems to have achieved that level. But in this recipe, though the look may not be the same, the taste is there.

Raspberry & Cab Sav Summer Puddings

The first time i can remember trying summer puddings was when my cousin Pauline, who is Irish, brought one to a family gathering. I remember her saying at the time that it turned out as a bit of a disaster, but i loved it! This is the first time that i've made them myself, basically changing an Alton Brown idea (the tin cans... you'll see) into a blend of my favorite fruits: raspberries! The best part about summer puddings is there's no cooking. It's pretty foolproof.

Black Bean Soup

A continuation of the budget budget budget series, the other budget food is soup! But that doesn't mean it has to be the same old same old, pea and hams and minestrones... or worse... canned! Try this one, it's like taco soup! And extremely good for you. The lime brings out a brightness of flavour in the soup that makes this suitable for summer as well as winter. It would actually, i believe, make a decent cold soup.

Spaghetti All'Amatriciana

It's budget time! I'm trying to go lean on the wallet lately so i'm back to ensuring that my meals cost less than $5 per person. And pastas and other carbohydrates tend to be a good way of doing it! I don't mind though because i adore pasta, and this is one of the simplest, cheapest and tastiest to make.

If i could change one thing in every kitchen around the world, i think it would be to destroy all pre-made pasta sauces. They're nasty, overly salted junk! And it's cheaper, and easier, not to mention tastier to make your own tomato bases.