The Bill Cookbook Club # 1

I happily admit that I have a crush on Bill Granger. How could you not? Those gorgeous white teeth and tousled blonde hair, and the fact that the boy can cook.

I have quite a few of Bill's cookbooks which I use sporadically. Like many of my other cookbooks, there are recipes there that have been cooked to death with others not even getting a second glance.

I find his recipes super simple and unfussy (depending on my mood, sometimes a little too simple) however, I find them perfect for mid-week meals, giving me a chance to still indulge in my favourite pleasure (cooking) yet not too demanding on my time and energy after an exhausting work day.

I also love his approach towards using fresh produce in dishes that are clean and pure."I can't bear processed food" - his words from his cookbook "Simply Bill".

So today I have decided to start my very own little club. The Bill Cookbook Club. My plan is to pick and cook a dish out of one of my Bill Granger cookbooks. I'll post the recipe and give you feedback on how they turned out. Was it worth the trouble? Would I cook it again? You get the drift.

So let's get started, and for recipe 1, I've chosen:




Ocean Trout with Red Chilli and Tomatoes
Simply Bill

Serves 2
1/2 tbsp olive oil, plus a little extra
2 x 200g ocean trout fillets
1 large red chilli, sliced
2.5cm piece of fresh ginger, grated
1 garlic clove, sliced
1/2 can chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp soy sauce
3/4 tbsp sugar

Heat the oil in a large frying an over medium -high heat. Add the trout and cook for 2 minutes on each side or until cooked to your taste. Remove from the pan.

Reduce the heat to medium and add a little extra oil. Add the chilli, ginger and garlic and cook for 2 minutes until golden. Add the tomatoes, soy sauce and sugar and cook for 5 minutes, stiring occassionally until thickened.

Serve the trout with steamed rice and the sauce spooned over the top.

As you can probably see from the photos, I didn't use trout. When I went to the market today it really didn't look great, so I picked up the salmon instead and I think it worked really well. I also made the decision to bake the fish in the oven as in the past, when frying salmon, my place ends up smelling of fish for days - not very pleasant at all!

I really liked this dish. So quick to whip up (the sauce took the same amount of time as the fish did baking in the oven) and so very, very tasty with a nice kick of chilli.

Definitely a dish I would make again and one I would make for anyone coming over for dinner.

Nice one Bill!

A weekend away in Ballarat

A few months ago, I joined a camera club. A place where I could learn more, talk with fellow enthusiasts and just generally be inspired.

I'm loving it.

Each meeting/catch up we have I'm learning something new, no matter how structured or un-structured the session. So when some fellow members wanted to head up to Ballarat to visit the Ballarat International Foto Biennale this weekend - I was on board.

I'll admit, the exhibition sounded exciting and I was looking forward to again, being inspired. However I will admit to you that the thought of having a weekend away, staying in a gorgeous B&B, was probably a little higher on my list. I'm a sucker for a B&B.

So arriving in Ballarat late Saturday morning, I wandered around a few of the exhibitions - my favourite being Maggie Diaz, a US born photographer who migrated out to Australia in the 60's. Beautiful black and white candid shots of people in the 50's and 60's.

Then it was time to check into the B and B and I can tell you - it didn't disappoint.

 

I stayed at the Silver Birch B and B with it's huge bed that you had to jump up to get on and its deep claw foot bath (which I spent over an hour indulging in (how often to get to do that!) The only problem is that I found it really hard to get back out there and view some more exhibitions as I just wanted to curl up and read my book in front of the fire.




I caught up with the guys from the camera club for dinner that night at the Craig's Royal Hotel - delicious. The food was wonderful - especially the mussels and pinot I had, sitting in pretty dinning room surrounded by some prints from the exhibition.

 

(gorgeous morning sunlight)

Waking up on the Sunday morning with the sun pouring in through the window was utter bliss. So was making a big pot of tea, turning on the fire and curling up with the latest 'Country Style' magazine.

 

(that's me waving hello to you)

The rest of the weekend was spent visiting various exhibitions as well as the Botanical Gardens.

Stopping for coffee at Lake Wendouree and then finally spending money at the Mill Markets on my way out of Ballarat.




What a weekend!

The Cookbook Challenge No. 17: Baked

Day dreams of the French countryside seem to be a daily occurrence for me at the moment.

Working full-time in a corporate firm means I'm constantly dreaming and planning my escape. My escape to France.

My dream would be to just stay put in 2-3 regions and just explore to my hearts content. I'm over the whole back-packing thing and I'm definitely a girl who likes her creature comforts, so I'd love to base myself in either a little self-contained cottage or B&B and just hit the markets, the sights, the antique stores, the cafes and anything else on offer.

So with all of these day dreams, I've been finding myself cooking anything and everything French (as you've probably already noticed), so when I had to decide on a recipe for this fortnight's theme, how could I go past..........

Croissants
(Recipe from The French Market Cookbook)


I have a huge collection of French cookbooks (told you I'm obsessed), but there is only one croissant recipe to be found in all of them. Not sure why that is as you really can't get more French than a croissant.

I'll admit, the process was long. Simple but long. But I have to admit it was a real pleasure to make. Each time I pulled the dough out of the fridge after it had been resting, and seeing it grow and puff up, I was like a child in a candy store - very excited. (I made plain and a couple with chocolate rolled inside).


So waking up on Sunday morning, I pre-heated the oven, made a pot of tea and popped my little babies in and I waited patiently.

Not quite as flaky as a well-made croissant (a little on the heavy side) but the flavour was definitely there. I was very chuffed with myself.

I'm googling away right at this very moment to see how to make this pastry lovely and flaky, as I'll be trying again very very soon. Wish me luck!



To see my fellow challengers, click here!

Hobart with a Cherry on Top - Part 3

A final little update from my recent holiday to Hobart.


I've been back for over a week now and yet I'm still on a high from it. I managed to squeeze so many wonderful things in apart from The Agrarian Kitchen that I went to bed each night thinking what a great day I'd just had. My days included coffee at Jackson & McRoss Bakery. You may struggle to get a table here, but some of the most delicious bread and pastries can be found here and it's well worth the visit.

As well as a lazy wander through the Salamanca Markets where I managed to buy a lot of butter (don't ask).




We ate a yummy (albeit naughty) seafood lunch on the harbour, washed down with some yummy local Riesling.


And a visit to the beautiful Botanical Gardens set in one of the best locations in Hobart with views of the river peeking through the trees.

Our main purpose in visiting the gardens was to locate the famous vegie patch. Famous for its connection with Tasmanian television gardening guru Peter Cundall. Being a huge fan of Peter Cundall and the show, this was one of Ms B's "must do's" for the trip.






We also visited MONA (Museum of Old and New Art).

Have you ever visited yourself? I'd love to hear what you think. MONA was a place I was dying to get to. I'd heard so much about it and being a lover of galleries and museums, I couldn't wait.


The building and location were exquisite, located at the Moorilla Winery, however I have to be brutally honest here and say I really didn't like it. I found most of the pieces too confronting for my taste buds. Too much focus on death and brutality for my likely. I just didn't see the point of alot of it. It definitely had an effect on me, which I guess is the whole reason, but unfortunately the effect wasn't a good one. However, I will say that the part of the museum that focused on "old art", I loved.

I guess life would be pretty boring if we all liked the same stuff.

So from the confronting images at MONA to the picturesque scenery of the little town of Richmond, about a 20 minute drive from the museum.

The one thing I found gob smacking is that you cannot get a decent Devonshire Tea in Richmond. I know this might not mean anything to many of you but when you're in a quaint little town filled with antique stores and tourists, you expect to be able to get a Devonshire Tea. Well, all four of us expected it and we were at a loss as to why only one place served it AND used fake cream from a can! What the????

 

And so our last day finally arrived and to finish our holiday in the same way we started it, we headed to a cake shop.

Sweet Envy, located in North Hobart to be exact.

Superb!

Hobart with a Cherry on Top - Part 2

I love everything about Tassie.

I love the weather. I love the green hills with the little houses clinging to the sides. I love that in only 15 minutes from the city you can be driving past cows and sheep. And I love, love, love the fresh produce.

As our little holiday was all about visiting the Agrarian Kitchen (see previous post here), we (myself and the fabulous gals - Ms B, Ms N and Ms K) headed straight to the little town of New Norfolk. Just a tiny little mountain town with not a lot going on, except for two places that I fell in love with.


One being "The Cake Lady" where we stopped for some lunch and a much needed coffee. A tiny cafe located down one of the side streets with only 3-4 tables squished in, but just so cute. Little antique bits and pieces for sale placed in every nook and cranny and a simple menu. Perfect for hungry girls that had just gotten off a flight.

Taking a lazy wander through the many antique stores located in New Norfolk, we found the mother ship. The Drill Hall Emporium. Filled with a mixture of English and French antiques. I was in love.



After spending way too much money it was time for us to head to our home for the night - Tynwald Willow Bend Estate, the most gorgeous B and B I've seen in a long while.

(my room)

(View from the balcony)

The sun was just setting, casting a gorgeous glow on everything we looked at, so we donned our sneakers and jackets and wander along one of the walking tracks which took us down to the Derwent River - desperately trying to walk off lunch in readiness for the dinner ahead....oh boy. Day 1 and I'm already full and we had The Agrarian Kitchen to look forward to the next day. Needless to say, we had no dinner after the Kitchen experience and took our full and extremely satisfied bellies off to bed.

More on Hobart to come - stay tuned!