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Monday, December 19, 2011

watermelon with feta and black olive salad

This lovely fresh colourful salad will be well known to many and is just perfect to make over the Christmas period.

Be sure to use seedless watermelon, pitted olives and the best plain feta you can find. Feta marinated in herb oil takes on the strong flavour of dried herbs and is a no no for this recipe.

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1/2 seedless watermelon, chopped into small even pieces
1 Spanish red onion, very finely sliced
2 tablespoons pitted black olives
1 300gm pk of plain feta cheese, cubed
1 handful fresh mint, small sprigs only
salt and pepper to season
olive oil
dash of vinegar

Method:

Carefully combine the ingredients and lastly drizzle over about 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and a dash of red wine vinegar. Serve immediately

Watermelon Salad recipe printer friendly version click here:
https://sites.google.com/site/foodvineprintablerecipes/home/watermelon-salad

Monday, December 5, 2011

clam fest!

clams in white wine and garlic sauce
All kinds of mollusc can be used for this recipe and as much as I love clams (pictured above) I think pipis are more interesting both in size, giving a more substantial mouthful, and texture. Whatever your choice of mollusc for this recipe make sure you purchase sand cleaned mollusc and wash them thoroughly, discarding any that have opened or smell peculiar.

This is a great thing to do in a wok and Japanese Panko breadcrumbs are an excellent thickening agent. 1kg feeds roughly six people as part of a meal of many small plates or two people for a large starter.

Ingredients:

1kg fresh closed clams, or other mollusc (see note below), thoroughly cleaned
1-cup (250ml) water
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
5 spring onions both white part and approximately 3 inches of green
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
1-cup (250ml) white wine
Juice 1 small lemon
1 fresh or dried bay leaf
4-5 tablespoons Panko breadcrumbs
Parsley, chopped, for garnish

Method:

In a wok, heat to boiling point 250ml water and pinch of salt. Throw in the clams. Lower heat; cook the clams gently to prevent toughening. Cover the wok and cook until all the shells have opened, shaking the wok now and then. Discard any that have not opened. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep warm. Strain the cooking liquor and set aside.

Wipe the wok, heat the olive oil, add the onion and garlic and sweat until transparent. Pour in the wine and bring to the boil, stir in the breadcrumbs. Add the cooking liquor, lemon juice, bay leaf and season with black pepper. Return the clams to the wok and gently turn them through the sauce, stir in the parsley. Transfer the shells and sauce to a serving platter.

Note: substitute the 250ml of water (to open the shellfish) for fish stock providing the stock is not too salty. Substitute clams for pipis, small scallops or mussels or the mighty razor clam, my favourite of all. Clams are high in protein and contain fair amounts of calcium and iron.

Clam fest printable recipe, click here:
https://sites.google.com/site/foodvineprintablerecipes/home/clam-fest
sliced garlic and spring onions