Because I’ve had this delightful salad a few times, I remember the core ingredients (tuna, potato, eggs, lettuce, beans, and olives) and I improvise with the rest. I never remember how to do a traditional dressing, so today I went part inpro and part reference. For the dressing I took it straight from Damien Pignolet’s book “French”.

Serves: 2
Prep: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min

Ingredients:
6 cos lettuce leaves washed and cut into 2 inch wide pieces
6 baby potatoes pealed and halved
2 eggs boiled and cut into quarters
A handful of beans (I’ve used butter beans, but you can use green beans)
¼ capsicum thinly sliced lengthwise
12 kalamata olives
½ Spanish onion sliced thinly (rings halved)
6 semi sun dried tomato’s cut length wise into three
6 anchovy fillets cut in half

Dressing:
3 lugs of olive oil
1 lug of red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Put two eggs on the boil – cook so they are firm, but still a dark yellow in the centre. Don’t overcook.
2. Meanwhile make your dressing so that the flavours can develop while you are cooking. Squash a garlic clove with the flat of your knife and use the inner flesh to rub the inside of a bowl and discard the debris. Add olive oil, red wine vinegar and salt and pepper – then whisk together. Taste. Ensure it has a sharp but not over powering vinegar flavour.
3. Once your eggs are out you can use the boiling water to get the potatos started.
4. Meanwhile, chop the other ingredients you need and begin to combine. Get the olives in, the anchovies, sundried tomatoes, cos lettuce, capsicum, and Spanish onion.
5. Get your tuna out and oil it, rub salt and pepper on it then leave for a few minutes until your ready.
6. Chop the ends off your green beans and when there is only a few minutes left to go for the potatoes throw them in a steamer and pop it on top of the potatoes.
7. Peal the egg and cut into quarters, set aside. You should place these on the plate at the end as they will break up if tossed into the salad.
8. In a really hot pan sear the tuna for about three minutes each side ensuring there is a crust on the outside, but that it remains quite rare inside but heated through. Take off the heat, then pull together the last few steps while allowing to rest.
9. Meanwhile, you should have taken the beans and the potatoes off the stove and given them a few minutes to cool (only slightly so that they are not steaming). Now is time to mix the potato and beans with your salad and the dressing.
10. Slice the tuna longwise.
11. Compile the final touches of the salad by placing the fresh salad ingredients onto a plate, lay the quartered egg pieces around the side and then layer the sliced tuna into the center.
12. Done. Eat.

This is really easy and tasty to do. Most of the time is rubbing the skin off them once cooked. This recipe makes them soft and delicate. Using baby octopus takes even longer – as this recipe caters for.

Serves: Many
Prep: 10 min
Cook time: 1hr

Ingredients:
1kg of baby octopus
1 cup of vinegar
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
A lug of olive oil
3 cloves of garlic halved
A few sprigs of fresh thyme
Salt and pepper

1. Place the octopus into a pot and bring to the boil. Simmer for one hour or so – or until the octopus is cooked through and easily pronged with a fork or skewer. The octopus will let off a lot of purple colour from the skin which you will rub off later. It will also be a little tough during the cooking process – but will soften up towards the end.
2. Drain and allow to cool for a moment
3. Place in a large bowl of water or the sink and rub away the skin
4. Cut into small pieces.
5. Put the octopus into a jar or container putting in some thyme and the garlic along the way.
6. Pour over the white vinegar, balsamic vinegar and a lug of olive oil.
7. Allow to marinade for three days before serving. (although you could start eating the day after)

Serves: 2
Preparation: 12min

Ingredients:
1kg of Mussels
1 small white onion sliced
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 handful of parsley finely chopped
1 large red chili finely chopped
1 cup of white wine

1. Catch a kilo at the markets
2. Chop the white onion, garlic, parsley and chili up
3. Toss out into a colander and de-beard, scrub and make ready for the pot
4. Heat oil in a pan
5. Heat through the onion, garlic, parsley and chili on a medium low heat until the onion is becoming transparent.
6. Add the white wine and heat on a medium low temp.
7. Once simmering – add the mussels, stir through, cover and cook for 7 minutes until open.
8. Throw into a large bowl and serve in the centre of the table for guests to get their hands dirty. (hand out tea-towels, serviettes, paper towels)

This is the first time I’ve made Oysters. I picked them up quite spontaneously from the supermarket – so they are quite small. Next time I’ll make sure I get big juicy ones and cook them a little faster. My dinner date tells me that half a dozen is just a tease – you may take his advice and go a full dozen per person.

Serves: 1 or 2
Prep: 10 min
Cook time: 5 – 10 min

Ingredients:
A dozen fresh oysters
1 rash of bacon
3 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
1 tablespoon of water
Lemon to serve

1. Chop bacon into small pieces
2. Mix the Worcestershire, tomato paste and water to make the Kilpatrick sauce
3. Lay oysters out on a tray with foil
4. Sprinkle bacon on each oyster
5. Top with a spoonful of sauce
6. Cook under a grill for 5 or 10 minutes until the bacon is cooked.

Serves: One
Cook time: 15 min

Ingredients:
1 small piece of snapper
2 tablespoons teriyaki
Buckwheat Noodles
½ cup of watercress leaves

Salad dressing
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
½ teaspoon of crushed ginger
½ teaspoon of garlic finely chopped
2 teaspoon of lime juice

1. Put two bundles of noodles into boiling water and cook for 4-5 minutes
2. Drain and rinse cooked noodles in cool water and allow to cool
3. Meanwhile marinate the snapper in teriyaki for 10 minutes and turn occasionally
4. Mix together salad dressing and taste
5. In a bowl stir the noodles and dressing in together then carefully add the watercress and mix through
6. Cook the snapper on a high heat for 3 minutes skin side down a few minutes the other
7. Serve the snapper on top of a bed of noodles

Consider garnishing with fried onion.

Kate pinned this one as her favorite – which was really nice. Good to get feedback. She said that the flavors were perfectly balanced. This is the compliment we’re after. :]

Makes: 1 cup
Cook time: 10 min

Ingredients:
350g of cod fried, bones and skin removed
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
Juice of one lemon
1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
One good lug of olive oil
1 garlic clove finely chopped.

1. Cook up the cod by frying it on both sides. Remove the skin and bones and fleck with a fork.
2. Heat olive oil in a pan and when hot add the garlic, cooking for a minute or so. Be careful not to let it brown.
3. Combine the cod flesh, lemon, zest, oregano and olive oil and garlic combination.
4. Add pepper to taste.

Last year I made a sweet potato dip to take to Ellie’s housewarming. She asked me to bring it again for her house warming this time around as well. So I came up with this Roast Pumpkin Dip for the sake of variety.

Makes: 1 ½ cups
Cook time: 30 min

Ingredients:
1kg of pumpkin chopped into small pieces
2 teaspoons of cumin powder
1 red chili, de-seeded and chopped finely
2 clove of garlic chopped
1 teaspoon of honey
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 lug of olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Cut Pumpkin into small pieces for roasting. Once it has been cooking for 15 minutes add the cumin powder and garlic to the roasting pan and toss.
2. Roast for another 15 minutes
3. Remove from oven, and blend with remaining ingredients
4. Serve with crispy toasted Lebanese bread ( I cut this up first and then used the pumpkin roasting trey to cook this and it added flavor)

My guest says that this one was like Mornay, he says “it has a soft cheesy flavour with a bite”. Interesting, because there is no cheese in this recipe but I think it is a good review.

Serves: 2
Cook time: 30 min
(extra time for reducing the liquid)

Ingredients:
1 kilogram of mussels
1 ½ tablespoon of butter
1 shallot (not the scallion, but the purple bulb variety)
1 pinch of saffron
1 sprig of tarragon
1 sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
¾ cup of white wine
¾ cup of fish stock
½ cup of double thick cream
Pepper to taste.

1. Immerse the mussels in water to clean, draining and filling up again every so often.
2. In a large pot, melt the butter on a medium low heat and add the shallot cooking for one minute or until transparent.
3. Add saffron, tarragon, thyme, bay leaf and white wine and bring to the boil and reduce by about 1/3rd.
4. Meanwhile, de-beard the mussels. This is done by pulling off the bit of “beard” or furry stuff sticking out the side of the shell. Its much easier to do this if the mussels are still in water as they are alive and relaxed in water.
5. Once your wine has reduced a little add the mussels and put a lid on top – cooking until the mussels have opened.
6. Drain the mussels and capture the broth which will be returned to the pan and reduced by a further half. Add pepper to taste. Remember the mussels will be quite salty so there is no need to add salt.
7. Serve the mussels into two bowls and discard the bay leaf and any herb sprigs that you may find.
8. Once the broth has reduced, evenly distribute across the dishes and serve.

Because this cooking method uses the water that leaches from the mussels, be warned that the broth is like the salty ocean… which is what I think is so stunning about it.

Serves: 2
Cook time: 10min

Ingredients:
1 small salmon fillet cubed
4 stalks of asparagus sliced
A handful of beans sliced
½ can of white beans rinsed
3 thin slices of Spanish onion
1 lemon juiced
1 small handful of parsley
Salt, pepper and chili to taste

1. Steam the beans and asparagus and fry off the salmon
2. Meanwhile, in a bowl mix together lemon, salt, pepper, chili and olive oil
3. Once the beans and salmon have cooked add to the bowl combining with the white beans, and Spanish onion.
4. Garnish with parsley.

Ingredients:
8 small capers
2 anchovy filets
3 springs of thyme
1 small garlic clove
Pepper
½ lemon

1. Pre-heat the oven to around 200 degrees.
2. Finely chop capers, anchovy, thyme and garlic together on a chopping board.
3. Lay swordfish out on a plate, drizzle with olive oil and add a little pepper. Remember how salty the mix will be once added and don’t add additional salt.
4. Rub the fillet with caper, anchovy, thyme and garlic mixture.
5. Place in your pan and lay slices of lemon on top.
6. Cook for 10 or so minutes depending on thickness of the fish.