'Crab' Ravioli accompanied by Caesar Salad

I am learning that a big part of cooking isn't about following every recipe to the 'T', but to follow the recipe and changing it to cater to your likes, dislikes and what you have available; be it in your fridge or the local supermarket. This is what I have done with the ravioli. I followed the original crab recipe, tasted it, really disliked it, fed it to the dog and improvised! I checked out the fridge, raided the 'left overs' and came up with a sweet potato, sun-dried tomato and red pesto filling.
My Mother warned me before I started making the pasta, that it takes a ridiculously long time and is very frustrating. Now I know what she means! It took my Father and I nearly 3 hours to roll out, fill and make a small amount of ravioli. I used 2 different methods to make it; an attachment for the pasta roller machine (which ended up as a total waste of time and money and we chucked it in the bin!) and a ravioli mold, where you put one rolled out piece of pasta on the bottom, small dollops of filling in each square and roll a second piece of pasta on the top. They were both pretty disastrous and the shapes were massively irregular! Thank goodness that it tasted nice!
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.thefirstmess.com/2012/01/02/sweet-potato-ravioli-with-kale-pesto/

Ratings:
Taste: 8
Appearance: 6
Difficulty: 10

Caesar salad has to be on every bistro menu that I've ever seen, so it is a good recipe to learn. Essentially it is just lettuce, croutons and a dressing with parmesan. With hindsight, I probably didn't crush the anchovies and garlic enough, nor whisk the egg, oil, lemon juice and mustard together for long enough either. However, the taste was very nice, albeit rustically strong! I loved the taste of the garlic croûtons, which were easy to make, but I forgot to take out the cloves of garlic, which made for an interesting experience for my brothers when they bit unsuspectingly into them! The salad went very well with the ravioli for a great summer holiday lunch.
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.curtisstone.com/recipe/caesar-salad

Ratings:
Taste: 9
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 4

Pasta with Rocket Pesto for Lunch and Oven Baked Sea Bream (Skippy) for Dinner

Pasta and pesto has always been a staple children's tea time meal in our family, so when I was given the opportunity to make a rocket pesto, I didn't think it was very inventive. WRONG! It appears there is a wonderful earthy difference between the shop bought and homemade. Pesto is traditionally made with basil, but rocket is a good substitute, giving the pesto a fresh peppery flavour. Making the pesto was really easy, I used shop bought rocket salad because my Mother's home grown rocket tends to blow a hole through the roof of my mouth! When tasting the pesto I felt it needed a bit of a bite, so I added a squeeze of lemon juice, which did the trick. We used fettuccine pasta and accompanied with a dressed spinach salad.
For similar recipe go to:
http://eatdrinkpaleo.com.au/perfect-rocket-basil-pesto-recipe/

Ratings:
Taste: 10
Appearance: 9
Difficulty: 3

The baked fish was a bit of a disaster. The sauce, made of onion, celery, garlic and tomatoes tasted nice, but Skippy (no not a small kangaroo) was not a great success. Having looked up 'Skippy' online, I have discovered that its real name is 'Silver Trevally'. It seems these fish are great fishing sport, but not overly popular for their taste. We found it to be very fishy, off white with a slightly odd texture and phenomenally sharp, small bones. We were wowed into buying them because they had only just arrived at the fishmongers an hour before. Served with new boiled potatoes and steamed asparagus. No amount of photography could make this look attractive!
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/sea-bream-with-mediterranean-sauce.html

Ratings:
Taste: 2
Appearance: 4
Difficulty: 6

Ceviche and (Australian Adapted) Dressed Crab

My Grandmother Buchanan will be so jealous when she finds out that we had crab, ceviche and prawns in one meal. She loves fish and as you can see, we had a seafood themed dinner, delicious! Ceviche briefly pickles raw fish and conserves its freshness. The acid in the pickle whitens the fish flesh and stiffens the texture, making it seem "cooked". All the recipes I found online for reference, told me different ingredients to add and times to 'cook'. So I compromised and made my own version. We visited a fabulous fishmonger in Inaloo (yes this really is a place that exists!) called 'Seafresh' and the choice was amazing, I chose very fresh pink snapper fillets for my ceviche. Jamie Oliver said to cut the fish into 1cm cubes, so I did, BBC Goodfood said to add peppers, onion, sugar and coriander, so I did! Last but not least, the Master Chef recipe said to marinade the fish for 20-60 minutes, so I did and drained the lemon juice after an hour.
Because The Masterchef cookbook is British, the ingredients are often different to Australia, especially when it comes to meat and fish. The original recipe called for brown crabs to dress, but at the moment the crabs that are available here are smallish blue crabs from Mandurah (pronounced 'Mandra') WA. The very knowledgeable fishmonger from 'Seafresh', gave me valuable advice as to how to prepare, cook and eat the crabs. 5 minutes in salted boiling water, take the top shell off and clean inside, removing the gills and gunk! and eat covered in chilli and garlic oil with "a decent french loaf and real butter!"
The shrimp looked too good to refuse and I learnt that apparently when the skins are shinier, they tend to be fresher and sweeter inside. With all this variety, we had a veritable fishy feast! I served everything with a simple spinach salad and plenty of french bread! 
For similar recipes go to:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/seafood-recipes/peruvian-ceviche/#FJoFU7tc6IkDzFu3.97
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1853678/ceviche

Ratings: Ceviche
Taste: 10
Appearance: 10
Difficulty: 5

Ratings: Crab
Taste: 10
Appearance: 10
Difficulty: 6

American Style Blueberry Pancakes for Brunch, Scones for Tea and Beef and Vegetable Stir-fry for Dinner.

We had some friends coming over for a swim, so for a quick carbo boost, I made American style Blueberry Pancakes. The fresh blueberries gave a lovely sweet pop to the pancake. They were eaten by hand and all bar two were gobbled up. Unfortunately, we left them on the table whilst swimming and Monty (our dog) was roaming....say no more! I should have cooked the pancakes for a little longer because they were a bit gooey in the middle, but time was pressing and it didn't seem to hinder consumption!
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4915/american-blueberry-pancakes

Ratings:
Taste: 9
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 5

Tea and scones, how very British! We didn't have any Devonshire clotted cream to serve with them, but quite frankly it would have melted within 10 seconds of going outside. These were a little thinner than I had anticipated. If I make them again, I must remember to cut them thicker than the 1cm quoted in the recipe, because they didn't rise as much as I had hoped.
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/8163/basic+scones

Ratings:
Taste: 8
Appearance: 7
Difficulty: 5

I have discovered a new favourite! Stir fry is an absolutely fantastic main course and is the easiest I have cooked so far. I simply chopped up all the vegetables and put them in the wok in order of their cooking times. I used the left over beef from the beef wellington (see yesterday's blog). I added lots more vegetables from the fridge than the recipe listed and served them with egg noodles tossed in sesame oil. I served the meal in simple bowls with chopsticks, which always slows my brothers down!
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/beef-and-vegetable-stir-fry/

Ratings:
Taste: 9
Appearance: 9
Difficulty: 4

Smoked Mackerel Pâté followed by Beef Wellington and to finish, Chocolate Fondant

Last night was my Grandparent's final night in Perth, and instead of going out to a restaurant for dinner, my parents asked if I would like to cook a special farewell meal. This is the first time I have ever cooked a 3 course meal and it was harder than I thought. Again it was the timing that caused me more problems than the technicality of making the food. The smoked mackerel pate is a 'chuck everything in and whizz' kind of recipe, just like the hummus and chicken liver pâté. I served the Smoked Mackerel Pâté in a DIY manner, with crackers and knives.
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/smoked_mackerel_pt_with_36210

Ratings:
Taste: 9
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 4

The recipe book describes Beef Wellington as a "rich, luxurious dish that is perfect for entertaining", which seemed a good description for the occasion. I surrounded the beef with mushroom duxelles, before wrapping it in puff pastry. I followed the recipe to a T and cooked it for the required period of time, but I found it difficult to gauge the readiness of the fillet in the middle. The fillet was wide as well as long, so unfortunately when I cut it open, the meat was perfectly cooked around the outside, but blue in the middle. Don't get me wrong, we love rare beef, but this was still saying "moo"! I accompanied the Beef Wellington with truffle sauteed cabbage and chipped garlic potatoes.
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2538/beef-wellington

Ratings:
Taste: 10
Appearance: 6
Difficulty: 7

I looked through the cookbook for something to finish off this luxurious dinner. The chocolate fondants seemed perfect and weren't extremely difficult to make. Chocolate fondant should be a cake on the outside and gooey chocolate sauce in the middle. If I could criticize anything about this recipe, it would be the cooking times, which in this case weren't specific enough. The top was cooked perfectly, which unfortunately hid the fact that the mixture underneath was incredibly gooey and probably under done. Again, it's a bit like eating cake mixture before it's cooked - delicious, but in small quantities! This was very rich and filling, which meant that my brother got to finish 3 chocolate fondants! I stoned cherries to serve with the dessert and sprinkled icing sugar on the top.
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8168/chocolate-fondant

Ratings:
Taste: 10
Appearance: 10
Difficulty: 5

Smoked Cod and Herb Fishcakes followed by Summer Pudding and Homemade Vanilla Icecream

The recipe in the Masterchef Cookbook calls for Haddock - how very British! Smoked cod is readily available and sustainable here and conveniently was on special offer in Coles at $7 per kg - unheard of! When I looked at this recipe, I thought "this looks easy", and technically speaking, it was. However, once completing the preparation, I realised that I had used almost every utensil in the kitchen! A pan for the potatoes, a roasting tin to cook the fish, colander, a chopping board for the potatoes, spring onions and parsley. Various measuring spoons for mustard, salt, pepper etc. Numerous knives, spoons, potato peeler, lemon squeezer, zester, potato masher, mixing bowl, 2 bowls for egg and breadcrumbs, 2 baking trays (I am baking them rather than frying them) and a tea cup......for my tea break! The cleaners came this morning and you would never know! I served the fishcakes with coleslaw and a homemade tartare sauce. They were a great success and delicious.
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/smoked-haddock-and-herb-fishcakes

Ratings:
Taste: 10
Appearance: 10
Difficulty: 5

I am really enjoying my personal project, but am finding that it is taking a lot of time out of my at the moment. I am about half way through my recipes so far. I have to plan what to cook, buy the ingredients, or get my mother to! prepare, cook, photograph and serve the food, then blog it. For this reason, I prepared the easiest dish so far for dessert. Summer Pudding used very few utensils and mercifully doesn't need to be cooked. I only had to use my ingenuity once, by trying to fit it into the fridge with all the weights on top of it! I think if I had left it overnight the juices would have absorbed more and wouldn't look like a brain.
For similar recipe go to: Summer Pudding
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4516/summer-pudding

I made the ice-cream mixture and put it into our ice-cream machine. All was going well, so we went for a family expedition to Fremantle Prison and left it churning away! We returned to find that the paddle had stopped turning and in the WA summer heat, the mixture had melted oops! The ice cream tasted nice, but was slightly more icy than it would have been if I had put it in the freezer immediately after it had stopped turning.
For similar recipe go to: Vanilla Ice Cream
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1881/ultimate-vanilla-ice-cream

Ratings: Summer Pudding
Taste: 10
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 3

Ratings: Ice Cream
Taste: 9
Appearance: 9
Difficulty: 5

Hummus followed by Paella

When my Mother and I were in Woolworths buying provisions, they had a special offer; $3 for everything that you can fit into a plastic bag from the fruit and veg trolley. Apparently it happens once a day and we were fortunate enough to be there. My Grandparents like to have a nibble before dinner (?!), so today hummus was on the menu. I think I added too much tahini, so to balance it, I added an extra can of chickpeas. All was going well until I added the required 3 cloves of garlic. possibly the recipe intended them to be smaller than mine - so to balance the garlic I added ANOTHER can of chickpeas!! It was still very garlicky, but edible when accompanied with Turkish flat bread and celery (from the special offer bag at Woolworths!).
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/5103/hummus

 Ratings:
Taste: 8
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 4

When the recipe says it serves 8-10 people, they really need to say how massive the helping is! My Mother always makes enough food to feed an army but last night it was my turn. Paella for dinner for 7 people and who'd have guessed it, lunch for 6, two days later! The preparation for the paella took longer than the cooking. I started out using the wok and found that it wouldn't be big enough. Time for a paella pan to add to the kitchen equipment! The recipe instructed me how to clean and de-beard the mussels - what joy! they were already pre-prepared and even par cooked! Equally, I didn't have to de-vein the prawns, lucky me! I learnt again that I need to stay organised and be prepared in advance if I am going to cook things last minute. The time guidelines of an hour for preparation and 45mins to cook are pretty accurate. Served with a simple green salad.
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/2452/paella

Ratings:
Taste: 9.5
Appearance: 10
Difficulty: 7