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Archive for the ‘Cook’ Category

Salmon Poke with Soba Noodles

Posted in Cook, Eat, Healthy, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on May 6, 2017| Leave a Comment »

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Hi!  I know it’s been ages.  You’re probably wondering if I’m here to make an appearance and then disappear after one or two posts… maybe… I don’t know.  But this recipe was too good to pass-up and not share with you.  I know I’ve jumped on the poke bandwagon a little bit late but – this is a revelation.  I have always wanted to have poke bowls for lunch but buying fresh fish and taking it to work has never been an option and the prices for sashimi in the food court at work is ridiculously expensive. So why not buy salmon and cook it sous vide and use that for poke.  The texture is pretty close to sashimi (maybe a little bit on the firmer side) and you can store it for a few days in the fridge if you’re not ready to use it.  Yes, this is super easy to put together and if you aren’t inclined to sous vide your fish – maybe use tofu or prawns instead – even chicken… I don’t know… I don’t even know if this is even a poke bowl anymore… maybe it’s just a soba salad that is disguised as a poke bowl?!?  I’ve brought it to work a couple of times already and it tastes awesome – so yes, you’re welcome.  Haha!

In case, you ARE wondering what happened to me since the last time I posted – well, YOGA took over my life…. and Pilates as well.  In the last year I took a teacher training course in Pilates (two actually but I kinda failed the first one!) and then I decided to take a Yoga 300 hour Teacher Training in Thailand… and now doing another  200 hour training.  I am hoping one day to find a way to blend my passion for food and “movement” (mostly Yoga).  If and only if you ARE interested (and why wouldn’t you be?!) go check out Trissalicious on Instagram. Follow me there – you’ll probably get to see a little bit more of me there.

Salmon Poke with Soba Noodles

Serves Two

    • 2 salmon fillets, sous vide 100 grams each
    • 1 tsp black sesame seeds
    • 2 tsps finely chopped green onions
    • Shredded Carrots
    • Shredded Red Cabbage
    • Edamame
    • Japanese Seaweed
    • Soba Noodles
    • Pickled Cucumber
    • Roasted Sesame Sauce (I used Kewpie)
    1. First Make the Sous Vide Salmon.  I suggest using the recipe here.
    2. Once you are ready to use the salmon, mix around 2 tbsp of roasted sesame sauce and top with black sesame seeds and finely chopped green onions.
    3. Top with the carrots, cabbage, edamame, seaweed, cucumber and whatever else you’d like to add.

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Prawn and Scallop Dumplings

Posted in Cook, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 18, 2014| 1 Comment »

Prawn and Scallop Dumplings

Prawn and Scallop Dumplings

A few years ago I attended an eight week career development session with a group of very talented and ambitious ladies from work. There was a lot of coaching on how to communicate effectively and change your approach depending on who you were talking to and self-confidence building exercises (One of them was that we had to come up with a one or two liner for when we came face to face with the company’s CEO in the elevator – which never actually happened!).

In one of the final sessions we were asked to reflect on our goals and aspirations for the rest of the year and we all went around the room to share. Some of the ladies talked about aspiring for a promotion within a few months, other talked about how they had been so focussed on their career for the last few years that they wanted to make sure they also had time for their families. The lady beside me had her turn come up and she said she wanted to get healthy and lose 5 kilos… My turn was up and I said that my goal was that I would like to make a transition in to doing a different role at work, given I had been doing the same thing for a few years already.

That’s what I said…

In reality – I was thinking about how I wish my fingers were nimble enough to pleat dumplings like the har gao you could find in the dim sum restaurants. Yes, my definition of success was to be a dim sum master!

A few months later, I moved companies, and moved roles and in career terms, I’ve never looked back…

Occasionally, (like last weekend) I’ll make an attempt at perfecting the pleats – but they never turn out right. Instead, I settled for making little dumpling balls filled with prawns and scallops. The filling (yum!) more than made up for the lack of pleating skills and the dough still came out translucent and delicious.

Alas, my dream to be a dim sum master seems to be more elusive than ever.

Prawn and Scallop Dumplings

For the dough

  • 150 grams wheat starch
  • 85 grams tapioca flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 265 ml boiling water
  • 10 g lard or shortening
  1. In a bowl mix the wheat starch, tapioca flour and salt together. Slowly add the boiling water and then the lard. Using a pair of chopsticks, mix the dough until you form a ball of dough. Place the dough on your work space and start to knead (careful as it will be very warm). Knead for around 10 to 15 minutes. The dough will also be quite sticky, so you can use a pasta scrapper to help remove the dough from your work surface. Cut it into four equal pieces and place these in a plastic sandwich bag to rest.
  2. Take one of the pieces and roll it into a log around 20 cm long. Cut this into 8 equal parts place the pieces, except for the one you are going to work with back into the sandwhich bag.
  3. Get two sheets of plastic (you can use another sandwich bag, cut in half for it, alternatively, use two pieces of baking paper) and lightly oil the bags. Put the piece of dough in the middle of the two bags (or baking paper) and press down on the dough with the palm of your hand to flatten. Then take a rolling pin and roll out the dough until around 5 cm in diameter. Alternatively, use a tortilla wrapper to flatten the dough.
  4. Place a spoonful of the prawn and scallop mixture in the middle of the dough then pinch the ends together to seal and so you form a little dumpling ball.

For the prawn and scallop filling

  • 150 grams raw scallops, chopped
  • 250 grams peeled, deveined
  • 30 grams bamboo shoots, finely chopped
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons tapioca starch
  • 1 egg white
  • 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons spring onions, white part only, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil plus more for serving
  • XO Sauce to serve
  • pinch of salt and white pepper to taste
  1. Finely chop the scallop and prawns and place in a bowl with the bamboo shoots, tapioca starch, egg white, oyster sauce, sugar, spring onions, sesame oil and salt and pepper.
  2. Using your hands, mix the scallop and prawn mixture well and cover with some cling wrap. Allow to marinate at least an hour in the refrigerator.
  3. Use the prawn mixture as per instructions above.
  4. Steam the dumplings for six minutes over high heat.
  5. Serve immediately with a mixture of XO Sauce, soy sauce, and a dash of sesame oil.

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Chocolate Covered Almonds (How not to temper chocolate)

Posted in Cook, tagged , , , , on July 29, 2013| 5 Comments »

Chocolate Covered Almonds

Chocolate Covered Almonds

I have never understood the art of tempering chocolate. It’s one of those things that has been explained to me, that I’ve read up on, watched videos etc but I still don’t understand the science behind it. When someone starts to clarify the process, I can feel my eyes glaze over and even if I nod my head and say all the right things (i.e. “ah so that’s why!” “oh, now I get it!”), I’m still as confused as ever.

One thing I do know, is that if you don’t temper chocolate, you don’t get that beautiful shine and nice crisp…. which is why I love this recipe, because you can cover up the fact that you don’t know how to temper chocolate properly and still make something pretty damn impressive!

I like to serve these chocolates with coffee or tea. I usually coat them in cocoa powder but have also coated them previously in a combination of cocoa and orange zest.

Chocolate Covered Almonds

Chocolate Covered Almonds

Chocolate Covered Almonds

  • 50 grams water
  • 150 grams sugar
  • 500 grams blanched almonds
  • 25 grams butter
  • 350 grams dark good quality chocolate, chopped evenly
  1. Lightly oil your kitchen bench top with a neutral oil like grapeseed.
  2. Place the water and sugar in a heavy based saucepan. Heat until 110c then add the almonds and coat with the syrup.
  3. Take the almonds off the heat and stir vigorously so as to separate the almonds into pieces. Then, place the almonds back on to the heat and continue to stir over a low heat until the almonds are caramelized, around 15 minutes
  4. To test if the almonds are done, take a piece and cut in the middle and see whether the inside of the almond is a nice golden colour.
  5. When done, add the butter and stir through the almonds. Remove from the heat and place on your kitchen bench top. Using two forks, separate the pieces of almonds carefully so they don’t stick to each other.
  6. Allow the almonds to cool then proceed to coating with chocolate.
  7. First temper the chocolate. Take around 2/3 of the chocolate pieces and place in the microwave. Heat in 20 second intervals until the chocolate has almost all melted, making sure to stir the mixture every now and then (especially if your microwave heats unevenly) and then add the rest of the chocolate and let the heat from the chocolate melt the remaining chocolate, and ensuring to stir constantly.
  8. Once the chocolate has reached around 31c, pour 1/3 of the chocolate in to the almonds and stir vigorously again, with the goal of separating the almonds into pieces (try not to have too many clusters of chocolate almonds).
  9. Place the bowl in the fridge and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Now, add another 1/3 of the chocolate (if it gets cool, you can again microwave for around 10 seconds or so before adding this to the refrigerated almonds.
  10. Once again, mix the chocolate vigorously, aiming to keep the almonds separated. Place the almonds back in the fridge for another 5 minutes.
  11. For the last time, pour the remaining chocolate and stir to keep the almonds apart. Place the almonds in the fridge to set for 5 minutes.
  12. If the almonds have stuck together, carefully separate them.
  13. To finish, dust the chocolates in cocoa powder.

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James Makes Pasta and a recipe for Angel Hair Pasta with Crab, Chilli and Lemon

Posted in Cook, tagged , , , , , , , on July 25, 2013| 4 Comments »

Chilli Crab Pasta

Chilli Crab Pasta

My sister once asked me to babysit her son, my two year old nephew. Somehow, I had this impression that she would only be gone a few minutes, 30 at most, little did I know that she would take advantage of that window of freedom and was gone for over two hours.

The first half hour was easy – I sat him infront of the computer and we spent the time watching Mickey Mouse Club House. After awhile he started asking for his Mum (I was secretly wishing she was around too!)… I was in a bit of a dilemma as I wanted to start with my homemade pasta but I also had to babysit. So I asked him if he wanted to help me make some pasta, expecting that this would pre-occupy him for at least a few minutes. I couldn’t have been more wrong!

My two year old nephew was a natural! In fact, I was so impressed that I took a video of him working with the dough, laminating it through the pasta machine, flouring the sheets and so on. We ended up spending a good hour making the pasta and I was so sure that it would turn out perfectly and that no one would believe that he had made it all by himself (with some supervision of course)… so I decided to video the experience. Just in case he gets to be a rockstar chef one day, I’ll have proof that I gave him his first pasta making lesson.

If you’d like to watch him, the clip is below. Apologies for the lousy editing – I clearly cook better than I do make a video!

Anyway, the recipe I’m sharing today is one where fresh angel hair pasta is best used. A few weeks ago we took a friend to the Hunter Valley and had lunch at one of the restaurants there, Roberts. This was my by far my favourite dish and the fact that I didn’t order it (I only managed a taste from my husband), meant that I had to try and copy it at home. I’ve always known that crab, garlic and chilli go well together, but the addition of lemon zest was a brilliant idea!

Angel Hair Pasta with Crab, Chilli and Lemon

serves 2

  • 50 ml olive oil
  • 30 grams butter
  • 2 large red chillis (leave the seeds and pith on for a spicier sauce)
  • 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 250 grams fresh crab meat
  • 200 grams fresh angel hair pasta
  • Zest of one lemon
  • salt to taste
  1. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Cook the pasta, if using fresh, around 1 minute, if dry, follow package instructions.
  2. Heat the olive oil and butter in a sauce pan. Add the chillis and garlic and saute for a few minutes over a low heat until fragrant, around 3 to 4 minutes.
  3. Add the crab meat and lemon zest. Season to taste and toss in the pasta. If the pasta seems a bit dry, add some of the pasta water to the sauce (around 50 to 100 ml)

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Best Ever Granola Recipe

Posted in Cook, tagged , , , , , , on July 14, 2013| 11 Comments »

Best Ever Granola

Best Ever Granola

There’s a granola movement happening in our family nowadays – we can’t get enough of it. It started innocently enough. I had been wanting to try the granola recipe from Daniel Humm’s Eleven Madison restaurant ever since I saw an interview where he said that he loved to run every morning and made his own granola. He thought it was a great idea to give a jar of granola to each person who dined at his restaurant. Apparently, his granola is legendary. I think… mine is better. I know it’s a big and bold statement but the beauty of this recipe is that you can adapt it to your taste.

The way I look at it, the basic recipe is made up of rolled oats, brown sugar, maple syrup and olive oil – from there you’re free to add whatever else you like. The original recipe calls for pepitas and dried sour cherries. I substituted macadamias and dried blueberries instead. My husband prefers his with almonds and pecans. My sister adds dried mangoes… See? I told you there was a granola movement in the family! Everyone has their own recipe which they claim is the best version. We can’t agree on which version is best. We can’t even agree on when and how to eat it. I like it for breakfast with milk. My sister likes it as a snack with yogurt. Her husband takes his with skim milk and my husband treats it more like a snack.

I’m sure as a family which version, when to eat it and what to eat the granola with will be one of those things that we will never come to terms with. But I’d still encourage you to try this recipe (or a version of it) and share it with your families as well.

Best Ever Granola

Best Ever Granola

Best Ever Granola

Adapted from Daniel Humm, Eleven Madison

  • 2 1/2 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup dried coconut chips (or dried shredded coconut)
  • 1 cup raw macadamias
  • 1 cup pistachios
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup dried blueberries
  • Note: For the macadamias and pistachios – feel free to substitute nuts of your choice (i.e. almonds, pecans, pepitas etc)
  • Note: For the dried blueberries – feel free to substitute dried fruit of your choice
  1. Mix the rolled oats, coconut chips and nuts in a large bowl.
  2. In a saucepan, heat the brown sugar, maple syrup and olive oil until the sugar has melted, around 2 to 3 minutes.
  3. Remove the brown sugar/maple syrup from the heat and add the salt. Pour this over the rolled oats mixture and mix until well combined.
  4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the granola over it. Bake in a pre-heated 150c oven for 30 to 40 minutes until golden and the mixture has dried. Stir the granola once or twice while baking.
  5. When done baking, add the dried blueberries. Allow to cool and store.

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My Sister’s Leche Flan (Filipino Style Creme Caramel)

Posted in Bake, El Comedor, tagged , , , , on April 1, 2013| 19 Comments »

Leche Flan

Leche Flan

My two sisters are great cooks and while I love to cook for everyone in the family, once in awhile I like to sit back and enjoy their great food. This weekend the family celebrated Easter lunch at my place and I asked my eldest sister to make her Leche Flan. This dessert is the Filipino version of creme caramel. I’ve always thought a great leche flan/creme caramel is very intimidating to make. I prefer one that has a very smooth texture and a dark, almost bitter, caramel sauce. My sister however thinks it’s the easiest dessert to make and hers comes out perfectly every time. The recipe was passed down from my Grandmother and it takes less than ten minutes to put everything together and around 40 minutes to cook. Very minimal effort for an impressive dessert.

Leche Flan (Filipino Style Creme Caramel)

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 375 ml evaporated milk
  • 3/4 cup sugar (additional)
  • 5 egg yolks plus 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla beans
  1. Boil the sugar in the sauce pan until dark brown and pour in a 23 cm metal cake pan and allow to harden.
  2. In a sauce pan, combine the evaporated milk, 3/4 cups sugar, vanilla beans and eggs, whisk lightly. Place over a gentle heat and mix gently for a few seconds (you don’t want the eggs to cook). Pour the milk and egg mixture into the cake pan. Cover with foil.
  3. Steam the flan over slow heat for 40 to 45 minutes until the flan is set.
  4. Allow the flan to cool. Refrigerate the flan for a few hours. When ready to serve, run a knife around the sides of the cake pan. Place a large serving plate over the cake pan and flip over. Pour the extra caramel over the flan.

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Beef Ribs with Chimichurri

Posted in Cook, tagged , , on March 24, 2013| 7 Comments »

Beef Ribs with Chimuchurri

Beef Ribs with Chimuchurri

A few weeks ago I decided it was time to re-organize my kitchen. The cupboards were overflowing with spices, sauces and other goods that were well past their expiry date. I also started to pack away some of the gadgets that I hardly ever used, like my blender, ice cream maker and juicer. The one piece of equipment I couldn’t part with was my stove top smoker. I can never get tired of the flavour and aroma that smoking imparts on food.

This weekend I took out my trusty smoker to make these slow cooked beef ribs. I knew that smoking the meat would make this dish extra special but the big surprise was the chimichurri sauce we made which turned out to be absolutely delicious! This was my first time to make chimichurri – the recipe is a funny one as it was handed down from one person to another until it finally reached my hands! It was dictated to me by the butcher who said his wife had tried it from a magazine. He said it would be perfect with the beef but equally good with even grilled chicken or seafood so make sure to make more than you need when making these ribs.

Beef Ribs with Chimichurri

Serves 4

  • 2 kilos beef ribs
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup salt
  • 50 ml maple syrup
  • 1 cup flat leaf parsley
  • 1/2 cup corriander leaves
  • 1 french shallot, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 red chili, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 60 ml extra virgin olive oil
  • Juice of one lime
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Place the beef in a large pot with the brown sugar and salt, cover with water and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and allow to simmer for 2.5 hours. Remove the beef from the pot and place in the smoker. Drizzle the top with maple syrup.
  2. Smoke the beef for 45 minutes, when done, remove from the smoker and allow to rest for a few minutes.
  3. Heat a pan with some oil and sear the beef ribs, around 3 minutes on each side until nicely browned.
  4. For the chimichurri, combine the remaining ingredients and blend in a food processor.
  5. Serve the beef with the chimichurri sauce.

Note: If you don’t have a smoker, just simmer the beef for 3 hours instead. When done, sear the ribs as per instructions above.

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Trissalicious on SBS Food Safari! (Plus a recipe for Pinakbet)

Posted in Cook, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 6, 2013| 11 Comments »

Pinakbet1

Preview to SBS Food Safari:
http://www.sbs.com.au/food/video/20560963937/thursday-night-food-safari-filipino-promo
Last year I was contacted by the producer of SBS Food Safari, only the best food show ever, asking if I would consider featuring a recipe for an episode on Filipino Food. I think it was on the back of some of the posts they had seen on the Kulinarya Cooking Club. There was certainly no way I would pass on this chance!

As we tried to decide which recipe to feature, the producer suggested Pinakbet. When I asked Georgie why she was interested in that recipe, she mentioned that it was one dish that really stood out as featuring unique ingredients that Australians wouldn’t have normally cooked with. She was right, Pinakbet is a traditional vegetable stew usually made up of okra, talong (eggplant), ampalaya (bitter melon), and shrimp paste. I could understand why the dish would be worth showcasing but at that time it was not exactly a dish I would consider as a top choice. In fact, it probably wouldn’t have even been in my top ten favourite Filipino dishes.

I didn’t grow up enjoying vegetables. In fact, as a child I used to think that whoever invented Pinakbet must have really hated children because it had all the bitter and slimy vegetables I detested. The only saving grace, I thought, was the crispy bits of pork belly that was sprinkled throughout the dish. But I was determined to make sure that I would practice making the dish several times before the actual filming date.

The funny thing is, I started to appreciate the slimy okra, the bitter ampalaya, and the eggplant. The tastes started to grow on me and I thought of it as an acquired taste. The same way I learned as an adult how to appreciate a beautifully bitter dark chocolate, where as a child I would have preferred a sweeter milk chocolate.

The day of the filming came and I can honestly say I was a convert to Pinakbet. I cook this dish regularly nowadays. Sometimes the prejudices of our youth prevent us from enjoying something special.

And about the show? Maeve, the host of SBS Food Safari, and her team were fantastic! They do so much to promote the many cultures and cuisines of Australia. I was worried that Maeve would have the same reaction to Pinakbet as I did when I was a child. I was so wrong. She absolutely loved it! And in case you’re wondering, Maeve is every bit as nice and beautiful in person as in the show.

Food Safari airs in Australia on 7 March 2013 on SBS One at 7:30 pm.

Recipe for Pinakbet can be found here.

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The Color Run Salad

Posted in Cook, tagged , , , , on February 13, 2013| 6 Comments »

Color Run Salad

Two months ago my husband and I decided to go for a run in a park a few minutes away from the house. I still remember that morning as if it was just yesterday. I took my GPS watch so that we could measure the distance we would go. The area was really more of an oval but truth be told, I wasn’t able to measure the entire distance as we stopped around half way through. My husband was out of breath – after 190 meters. The next day we ran the entire oval then walked another round. Little by little we would progress around the oval until one day we could do three or four rounds without stopping or heaving for breath.

Sometime in mid-December we agreed that we would have a goal, and that was to run in the Color Run that would be held in the Sydney Olympic park in February. So off we trained, a few extra hundred meters at a time until we were running the five kilometers maybe three or four times a week.

My brother, who runs marathons as a pastime told us that “one day, running the five kilometers will come so easily that it will feel like nothing…” that day, was clearly not going to happen anytime soon. We would finish each run, muscles sore, sweating profusely and trying to catch our breath. There were days when we would feel like sleeping in but we would try to motivate each other with little quotes like “there will come a day when you will not be able to run… today is not one of them” or when it was rainy we would tell each other that “there was no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing”.

The Color Run is a five kilometer run loosely based on the Indian Holi festival. Everyone starts with a white T-shirt and each kilometer is associated with a designated color. As you run or walk (or dance) each kilometer, you are blitzed with color so that by the end of it, you look like some sort of colorful grunge art piece.

There is a reason that the Color Run is called the happiest five kilometers. The event itself was truly amazing. There were over 20,000 who participated and needless to say running through each color zone definitely made the run more fun. But what really inspired and motivated me was crossing the finish line with my husband. Here was someone who could barely run 200 meters just two months ago and was now finishing his first run. Something he never (ever) thought possible.

This salad was a recipe given to me by my Aunt Jenni. I am not sure what the origin of the salad was but I think one of her friends gave it to her. We used to call it the Qantas salad because someone said they used to serve this as part of the first class meals (I have never ridden first class so I can’t confirm). In any case, I’ve renamed it the Color Run Salad in honour of our first run together. It’s as tasty as it looks beautiful and it’s healthy too!

The Color Run Salad

  • 1/2 butternut pumpkin
  • 1 small sweet potato
  • 2 beetroots
  • 1 cup semi dried tomatoes
  • 2 cups spinach or rocket leaves
  • handful of pinenuts, toasted
  • 100 grams feta cheese
  • 1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Preheat the oven to 180c. Peel and cube the pumpkin, sweet potato and beetroot into cubes. Toss with the olive oil, mixed herbs and season with salt and pepper.
  2. Roast the vegetables in the oven for around 25 to 30 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
  3. To serve, combine the roast vegetables with the pinenuts, feta and spinach/rocket leaves.

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Zucchini Flowers Stuffed with Ricotta, Fresh Herbs and Pine Nuts

Posted in Cook, tagged , , , , , on November 1, 2012| 3 Comments »

Zucchini Flowers Stuffed with Ricotta

Zucchini Flowers Stuffed with Ricotta

My husband and I like to go to a little Italian restaurant around the corner from where we live (well, more like in the next suburb to be exact). The other day we were heartbroken to find out that the restaurant would be moving. We said that we needed to go there as often as we could so as to enjoy their food until the big move. One of the specials on the menu were these zucchini flowers stuffed with a prawn and scallop mousse. Of course we ordered the dish! How was it? It was fantastic. Crisp batter and a beautifully light mousse.

Do you remember how my Mom, aka the blog monster, thinks she is part owner of this blog? Well now there’s my husband as well, who I like to think of as the aspiring blogger. The other day he came home with a packet of zucchini flowers and said he would stuff them like the dish we ate a few nights earlier. He said he planned to make a vegetarian version with ricotta and some fresh herbs from our garden.

So he prepared the zucchini flowers all by himself, the only advice I offered was for him to stuff them using a piping bag instead of a spoon. But I pretty much left him alone in the kitchen. A few minutes later I heard a click from the kitchen… then another click… click … click…

Curious, I went to have a look, to see my husband taking photos of the zucchini flowers with his iphone! I knew then and there I created another blog monster! But hey, if he keeps churning out dishes like this one, it will definitely be worth it!

Zucchini Flowers Stuffed with Ricotta, Herbs and Pine Nuts

Serves 4
These zucchini flowers are a nice vegetarian dish. The ricotta mousse was delicious with the chopped herbs and the pine nuts added some nice texture to the dish.

  • 8 zucchini flowers
  • 250 grams ricotta
  • 1 egg
  • 25 grams pine nuts, crushed
  • 2 teaspoons of mixed fresh herbs – basil, parsley, and mint
  • salt to taste
  • 160 ml ice cold water
  • 100 grams tempura flour
  • oil for shallow frying
  1. First remove the yellow stamens inside the zucchini flower by pinching it off.
  2. Make the ricotta mixture by combining the ricotta, egg, pine nuts, fresh herbs and salt to taste. Place in a piping bag.
  3. Pipe the ricotta mixture into each zucchini flower, making sure not to overfill the flowers. Twist the edge of the flowers to seal.
  4. Make the batter by combining ice cold water and the tempura flour. Mix lightly, around 5 to 6 times, making sure not to over mix the batter, it should stay lumpy.
  5. Heat the oil and dip the zucchini flowers into the batter and then carefully lower into the oil. Shallow fry the flowers for around a minute in each side until crispy. Drain on paper towels. Serve with lemon wedges and sprinkle with salt prior to serving.
Zucchini Flowers Stuffed with Ricotta, Herbs and Pine Nuts

Zucchini Flowers Stuffed with Ricotta, Herbs and Pine Nuts

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