In my Kitchen September 2014

Another month gone (is this year going fast or what?) and we’re back with Celia at Fig Jam & Lime Cordial’s In my Kitchen. This is such a great way to meet new and wonderful people from all over the world who love sharing their kitchen and what’s in it every month.

School has been going gangbusters! No break, straight through to the second semester where I’m learning so many wonderful things, things that I would never have thought about having time to do in my own kitchen. Like making pizza dough – prosciutto, pear, blue cheese and rocket pizza and spicy chorizo and rocket calzone. Making pasta dough – herbed ricotta ravioli with a spicy capsicum sauce and ricotta gnocchi made with choux dough. Plus risotto, samosas, salads, deboning a whole chicken and making chicken supreme, deep fried Sichuan quail and slow cooked squab. Phew! That’s only half of what was made during the month at school!

And of course there’s no shortage of new cookbooks for me to learn from – well, it was my birthday! So on that note, let’s start . . .

In my Kitchen . . .

. . . Thailand – The Cookbook. As you know I love Asian cuisine and love Thailand, especially Phuket. When my husband gave this to me for my birthday I was over the moon! It has over 500 traditional Thai recipes, some that have never been seen in any other cookbooks. There’s also some well known Thai restaurants from all over the world (Sydney included) where their chefs share some of their popular dishes with us – it’s pretty amazing!

In my Kitchen . . .

. . . Gary Mehigan’s Favourites cookbook. This cookbook by Masterchef Australia judge, shares over 100 recipes and tips that are Gary’s favourites from 30 years being in the food industry. This cookbook is quite homely and inviting, the photos of the food and recipes are inviting and enticing. I’m looking forward to spending some time making these dishes – when school’s finished

In my Kitchen . . .

. . . Heston’s Fantastical Feasts cookbook is the recipes from his TV series of the same name. I am blown away with the work that Heston Blumenthal does with food and gastronomy. This cookbook is one I’ll drool over and be in awe of, but may never make anything from. He just inspires me. When I saw this cookbook for $10 (I know, bargain right!) I knew it was one for the collection.

In my Kitchen . . .

. . . The Eastern & Oriental cookbook was also $10! Will Ricker has shared 80 signature dishes in this cookbook from his well known e&o restaurants in London. When I look in this cookbook I just want to cook everything from it! I can’t wait to get my hands dirty in the kitchen with this cookbook.

In my Kitchen . . .

. . . my pizza dough, which doubled in size, from the day I made it at school to the next day when I brought it home. Pictured at the start of this post is the pizza I made for my husband, which is my new favourite pizza topping – prosciutto, pear, walnut, blue cheese & rocket (yumm!) If you haven’t tried this before I suggest you give it a try – it’s really a taste sensation! The base was exactly how we like it, thin with just the right amount of crunch and I don’t think I’ll ever buy another pizza base again! This dough can be frozen too for later use too, which is perfect for when I really want pizza but don’t want to wait for the dough to ferment.

In my Kitchen . . .

. . . fresh bunches of basil to make my basil and pistachio pesto – which is absolutely to die for! I ate it as a dip, I made a one pot chicken and pesto pasta (recipe coming soon), added it to my steak – yumm! – and used it on my beef pot pies for a little something extra. Pesto is so versatile, I have found a new love! What do you use your pesto with?

In my Kitchen . . .

. . . some freshly made, homemade (not by me unfortunately) Malaysian sambal. My husband and I went out for dinner with one of our friends, who took us to The Best Malaysian seafood laksa restaurant in Melbourne. I have tried a lot of laksas in my time and I have to say, this certainly was The Best Laksa I’ve had! I commented to the owner/chef that the sambal was absolutely amazing, can I buy some? She had told me a fresh batch just came off the stove if I’d like to buy some – ahh, yes please! It sure was straight from the stove, it was still hot! The flavours are truly amazing with the right amount of sweet, salty, sour and spicy in every quater teaspoon. This is not for the faint hearted and truly adds another depth to not only the laksa but to poached eggs, noodle and rice dishes or even seafood.

Hope you enjoyed IMK this month and I look forward to seeing you all next month for more fabulous insights into your kitchens! Oh and in case you missed it, check out the podcast I was featured in 🙂