There is nothing like a good ripe tomato in the summer. Not much needs to be done to it other then slice and place on top of a delicious slice of grilled bread, perhaps with a drizzle of olive oil, special sea salt and a twist or two of black pepper. Sometimes I brush the grilled bread lightly with a pesto, made with either basil or my garden sage that it threatening to take... View Article
Once you learn how to make a galette you have an easy dessert to make with a variety of summer or winter fruits. It works as well with rhubarb, peaches or plums as it does with apples and pears of fall. Leave the sugar out, add a little salt instead and you have a pastry good for a variety of savoury filling as well, from caramelized onion to tomatoes and more.I make the dough... View Article
I mentioned on my Instagram feed (@oliveoilandlemons) that I became intrigued by activated charcoal as an ingredient to make breads black. The look of the black bread is so dramatic and would make a beautiful background to colourful toppings. In terms of what it is and whether it’s safe to consume I read a couple fo articles but do not claim any particular knowledge of the product so do your own research if you... View Article
This summer my rooftop garden has an abundance of herbs and flowers and I am incorporating them into my food every way I can. I have already pressed them into sheets of pasta and now a similar treatment with this special bread crisps. Carta di Musica means music sheets in Italian. It describes a Sardinian crisp bread rolled so transparent that you could read music sheets through it. I am sure they mean opera music,... View Article
Sometimes nothing but a little Asian flavour would do and on those occasions I may make salad rolls, Sushi, Asian soup or a noodle salad. Here is a quick an easy version that you can adapt to what’s in your kitchen or what is in season. Enjoy Ingredients: 8 oz rice stick noodles Toppings: 1 carrot, 3 radishes, 1 celery rib , 3 asparagus, thinly sliced on a mandolin Parsley or cilantro, whole... View Article
This year we have a profusion of nasturtiums growing on our rooftop patio. They are edible (no pesticides here), and peppery flowers and leaves and can be incorporated as garnish or otherwise into food I cook. Here are a couple of simple ideas that are easy to execute and fun to make and serve. Nasturtium butter Ingredients: 1 cup butter, softened to room temperature 3 tablespoons or so chopped nasturtium flowers About 3... View Article
Butternut squash makes a delicious filling for ravioli and is classically served with brown butter and fried sage leaves. I made some changes to the tradition and combined it here with goat cheese in the filling and walnut crumb as topping for a nice crunchy element. Making the pasta at home is part of the adventure in making this recipe so I encourage you to try. I made egg pasta with 2 1/3... View Article
Pavlova is an iconic Australian dessert and you find it on menus everywhere, not to mention every self respecting bakery. Traditional pavlova is a meringue base, crisp on the outside, marshmallowy inside, topped with cream and berries. Modern chefs have altered the presentation and you find it served in various ways. My favourite pavlova at a bakery was at Flour and Stone in Wooloomooloo in Sydney and one of the best restaurant pavlovas was at... View Article
Hello everyone, it’s been a while. We returned from an epic four months stay in Australia and New Zealand earlier this spring and it’s been a whirl wind of activity ever since. I took a bit of a break from blogging but not from cooking and you can find all my new creations on Instagram on the links to the right (@oliveoilandlemons) and Facebook. I have been getting several request to post the recipes and... View Article
As soon as we arrived in Sydney (and even before) I was looking for cooking classes teaching Asian cuisine. I was interested in Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Malaysian, whatever I could find. From watching hours of Masterchef Australia I knew that there is a major Asian influence on Australian cooking, likely because of the proximity to South East Asia. From watching the show it seemed like almost everyone knows how to cook Asian food... View Article
Spending New Year’s eve at the Sydney Opera House has been a bucket list item for a long time. This year we are spending four months down under, visiting Australia and New Zealand during their summer (our winter) season. Since we are here in December and in time for New Year’s Eve, I planned to view the iconic fireworks over the Sydney Harbour’s bridge from the other iconic landmark across from the bridge... View Article
As you probably know by now one of the first places I head to in a new city is the farmers market. Here in Sydney the question is which market to go to, as there are several. Coupled with Christmas markets now open everywhere, the list is rather long. One of the first markets I went to, other than the local one at nearby Kings Cross is Carriageworks. This market, formerly known as Eveleigh Farmers... View Article
