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!

Saffron Chicken Leg with Salsa Verde, Pumpkin Puree and Fennel Salad

Happy Easter everyone! This year's Easter celebration was held at my family's house, and i was asked to make an entree. So after scouring the internet for hours, i found a dish that was intricate, unusual and maybe a little more than i could chew. Bringing a broad spectrum of flavours to the table, this dish has a beautiful aroma of saffron in the chicken marinade, a decadently rich buttery pumpkin puree, contrasting with the aniseed notes of the fennel salad and the sharp, herby twang of the salsa verde. This is definitely a dish for cooking for a lot of people as the work that goes into it is considerable.

Kung Pao Chicken

Kung Pao chicken is a dish everyone has heard of thanks to its popularity in America and it's related inlfuence on television. (George Constanza ends up breaking the heart of a dying boy as the result of Kung Pao Chicken).

Well the first time i'd actually had it was at Choi's restaurant in Hawthorn East. If you haven't been there, it's worth a look. From an unopposing little door on a fairly quiet stretch of road, you enter an almost obscenely decorated dining room complete that looks like it came from Las Vegas. Having said that it seems to work, the service is impeccable, and the dishes are delicious.

Anyway! I'm not saying this dish is authentic, but it's not the terrible rubbish you get at franchise Chinese restaurants or noodle boxes. It's sticky-sweet, moist and tender, before the tingle of the sichuan peppers tap your shoulder.

Chong Yao Beng (Spring Onion Pancake)

Crisp and crunch on the outside, firm and chewy on the inside, and completely permeated with the taste of scallions, chong yao beng are a delicious snack of just a few ingredients. And i LOVE spring onions. Essentially a fried unleavened flat bread filled with spring onions, they are easy to make, and the result is very satisfying! There's a few different ways to make these, but below is the simplest.

Raspberry & Pineapple Upside Down Cake

An upside down cake is a cake that once cooked, is flipped over and eaten, obviously, upside down. The allows you to make patterns and essentially glazes in the bottom of the cake pan before adding the cake mixture, which will look fantastic once turned over.

The one we're all most familiar with in Australia is pineapple upside down cake, an old favorite. Not wanting to meddle too much with tried and true form, i've opted to mix raspberries through the cake mix to bring an extra bit of tang to the table.

Bring on the cake sale!