Palak Paneer (and how to make paneer)

I made cheese! Wohoo! I love activities where in cooking where i can make the components that you're so used to buying ready made. It adds another level to the care and control you have over a dish. And in this case, paneer is so cheap and so easy to make, I'm sure it, or other home made cheeses, will appear in other recipes down the line.

Palak Paneer is a vegetarian curry using paneer instead of meat, and with spinach as the basis for the sauce. Paneer has a taste and texture similar to firm ricotta (in fact this whole dish rings of cannelloni filling to me); as such, it acts in this dish as a conveyor of the sauce's flavor rather than as a distinct flavoring element of its own.

Happy cheese making!

Cauliflower Steaks with Baked Fennel & Red Pepper Sauce

My vegetarian recipe for the week! This recipe is a combination and tweaking of a couple of recipes i saw on Bon Appetit. I happen to love cauliflower, red peppers and fennel! So this 'salad' of sorts in a combination of a few of my favorite veges. I guess in the end it's not really a summer salad, but it was still delicious on a crisp Melbourne summer eve.

On a side note I'm totally jealous of the skills of an awesome person i recently met named Kai who is taunting me with photos of batches of macarons he is making seemingly with incredible ease! Whilst these delicious treats are something i still haven't quite mastered, his macarons are shop-worthy perfections, and tonight he sent me images of... salted caramel macarons!

It's not fair. I'm going to see if i can coax a guest post out of him so he can share a few of his secrets.

Middle Eastern Lemon & Chickpea Soup

In the search for my weekly soup to cook and take to work, i seem to be making soups of less and less ingredients! This one is very simply flavored, with the impact of the lemon zest and juice taking it to a different level. The spinach is integral in filling out the dish and providing a textural difference.

Bubble & Squeak Cakes with Portabella & Porcini Ragu

It seems to me that a lot of people don't know what my blog's namesake, bubbles n squeaks refers to. Bubble n squeak is a traditional English dish that involved shallow frying leftover vegetables from a previous meal. My memory of it harks back to a boy scouts camp where they made a version of it that was basically bacon and potatoes. I was hooked, but i don't think i ever actually had bubble n squeak again!

So anyway, the blog name came from the philosophy of using odds and ends to create a delicious meal: ok, so i've deviated from that strategy. Sue me!

Although still not true to form, using leftovers, the following recipe omits the bacon and indeed the shallow fry to go for a healthier oven baked version. Unfortunately there's no substitute for the cream in the mushroom ragu!

Fava with Thyme, Shallot & Red Vinegar Dressing

I recently invested in George Columbaris' second cookbook, and it did a wonderful job of bringing me back to memories of the delicious food served up at Hellenic Republic in Brunswick. Much more approachable than his first book, this one really gets down to good, flavourful Greek cuisine without the 'fancy stuff'.

This recipe comes from the book, and is a moorsih dip that i served with heated flatbreads. The base of the dip is provided by the split peas and olive oil, with hints of garlic and a twang of thyme and red vinegar.

Do make sure you taste for seasoning and remember that you need a little bit more salt than you might think when something is not being served hot.

Chilled Tomato & Bread Soup Cordoba Style

Some of the greatest foods are born of simplicity and that is what i love about the Movida cookbook. Movida owner Frank Camorra talks of the heart of spanish cuisine, and every recipe i have cooked has focused around bringing out the true essence in one or two core ingredients. To that extent i think of his restaurants, i would probably prefer the lower keyed taverna style Movida Next Door, over the opulent dishes of Movida itself.

This is yet another recipe i have lifted from Movida's cookbook: and this time, i have not played one bit with the recipe (except to halve it so i'm not eating it for the next 6 months). I can tell this soup is best made in the summer when tomatoes are at their best; do not skimp, and ensure you use fresh, vine ripened tomatoes. And don't use Wonder White bread!