Hut Christmas 2013 - gravlax

We would normally cure a side of ocean trout for Christmas Day, but as we just did it for the girls birthday party we didn't think we should double up!

Nothing could be easier to prepare for the big day. We started the birthday gravlax on the Tuesday night prior to the Sunday, and we thought it was perfect, but three days is fine.

Purchase a piece of fish (about 1kg of salmon or ocean trout), then mix equal amounts of sugar and rock salt (about 500g each), with some crushed garlic cloves some fresh dill and lemon (or lime) juice. Place half of the mix underneath the fish in a big glass Pyrex baking dish, cover the fish with the rest and pour over about 75ml of vodka (or gin or vermouth). Cover with cling wrap and place in the fridge with something heavy on top (cans or full bottles of tonic water). Half way through your curing turn the fish over and return to the fridge. We serve it with fresh rye bread and yoghurt cheese. If you would like to try the yoghurt cheese place  1kg of Greek yoghurt in a colander lined with muslin. Mix in a teaspoon of salt and leave to drain overnight in the fridge.

On the day, wash off the curing mix from the fish under the tap. Pat dry with paper towel. Check for any bones (they are easier to remove once the fish is firm and cured) and slice as thinly as you can. We serve it on a bed of dill (or fennel). Mix some horseradish (fresh or from a jar) into the yoghurt, slice your bread and enjoy.

Monday's Menu megamix

I'm back. The cold is all but forgotten (except for the occasional annoying cough).

To be honest I can't remember a lot of what we ate the week before last, but looking at my collage, we enjoyed a spring vegetable risotto (peas and broad beans courtesy of our garden), an omelette, roasted lamb shanks and root vegetables on couscous with minty yoghurt, and home made lamb souvlaki the next day with the left over lamb, hummus and more minty yoghurt. We also headed out for lunch one day for roast duck, pan fried beans with pork and dumplings. They were good.

During the week I had off we enjoyed:

Monday: Steak with pumpkin, asparagus and mini radishes from our garden.
Tuesday: Mushroom, bacon and pumpkin risotto.
Wednesday: Chicken wings with sausages, sage and onion.
Thursday: Frittata with pumpkin, asparagus (from our friend's garden, it was so sweet) and walnuts.
Friday: Penne with cream, peas and bacon.
Saturday: A birthday dinner in northern Tasmania for Rob's father. We started with dips and bread, Rob made Nigella's marinated ocean trout (she uses salmon) with capers and gherkins. We moved onto roast beef fillet with Cafe de Paris butter, new pink eye potatoes, steamed carrots and parsnips, fresh broad beans and peas (the last four veggies from our garden) and a green salad. The birthday cake was a chocolate roulade with cream and raspberries.
Sunday: After snacking all day we ate a simple salad of rocket, pumpkin and pine nuts.


Rob sent me some gorgeous photos he took of the spring grass at the hut, with the dogs wrestling in the foreground. If I can I'll load up a movie made of the images...but in the mean time here is my favourite.

Monday's Menu

What a weekend, the gale force winds were quite frightening at times, and our little hut isn't even anywhere near the big trees! The little hut withstood it all pretty well, although some of the creaking and window flexing was a little off putting. Garden wise we sustained some damage to a few of our boundary eucalypt trees (as in one was lying flat on the ground!) but it may still recover after being staked back up.

I hibernated inside, whilst Rob braved the weather to move a truck load of top soil into the last three vegetable garden beds. Instead I picked up the newborn cross stitch sampler that I bought, ahem, two years ago to complete for my niece's birth. I'm afraid I didn't get very far. I picked it on the design (cute native animals and flowers) but didn't realise just how fine the fabric is, so the stitching seems very small. But now that I've started again, hopefully I can be a bit more dedicated and get it done in time for her 2nd birthday!

Menu wise this week:

Monday: Soba noodles with silver beet (from our garden), with soy and sesame seeds.
Tuesday: Pink ling (on the BBQ) with asparagus. (hmm not sure about Pink ling.)
Wednesday: Vegemite toast after a very filling bowl of mushroom and bacon soup at Jackman and McRoss for lunch.
Thursday: Linguine with pecorino and peas.
Friday: Silver beet, speck and parmesan frittata.
Saturday: Slow roasted beef brisket with baked potatoes.
Sunday: Minestrone, with more of our silver beet.

Can you tell the silver beet is doing well in our garden?

Treats this week included a cheese burger from Devil's Kitchen and apple, cinnamon and almond muffins.

Monday's Menu

Hello again. Life is a little slow at the moment. But that's ok.
The days are noticeably longer now which we love.

Menu wise this week:

Monday: My mother made us a batch of Hungarian meat soup (a broth made from simmering marrow bones and vegetables) sounds a bit odd, but with some ramen noodles it was delicious, and I was taken back to when I was little and ate it at my Grandmother's house.
Tuesday: Mushroom and orange risotto. One of our favourites.
Wednesday: Pasta and meatballs.
Thursday: More soup.
Friday: We headed out for lunch of dumpling soup at Shoe Box, and a home-made wagon wheel from Raspberry Fool. For dinner Rob made beer battered flathead and served it with a rocket and fennel salad.
Saturday: Maggie Beer's Orange and soy chicken wings. These were really good. Will be on the menu again. Served again with fennel and rocket.
Sunday: Roasted vegetables on rocket.

What have you been eating at your place?

Monday Menu

So I think you know we love good food, but on holidays we always visit Rob's family, and they take food to another level. We stocked up on supplies before heading away, Italian sparkling wine, a kilo of French cheese, some buffalo mozzarella, four loaves of bread. So we feasted on fresh tomatoes, basil and mozzarella on bread, a leek tart, and baba ganoush out on the deck at Rob's sisters house. Then headed inside for roast beef, duck ballotine, poached salmon, potatoes, stuffed peppers and mushrooms, onion gratin and salad.
After a short interval, beautiful slow roasted quinces, halva ice-cream, chocolate tarts and harvest cake appeared.
The next day we were sent on our way with a box of figs from Rob's parents. Pink and luscious, they make April a favourite time of year.
What else have we eaten over the week? BBQ'd ocean trout served with silverbeet. Pasta puttanesca. A simple paella. Pasta with fresh tomatoes, basil and lemon oil. Figs stuffed with Fetta and pine nuts and wrapped in prosciutto. Rib-eye steak with baked potatoes and mini zucchinis.
A delicious week.