Greece is one of my favourite places in the world to visit, and both times I’ve been I swelled up to the size of a beach-ball what with all the ‘sampling’ of Hellenic foods. Last time I went to Athens I was lucky enough to stay with a Greek family, who introduced me to the wonders of these bullhorn peppers. As I recall I was not allowed to get up from the table before I had consumed 26 ouzos and about the same number of these stuffed peppers, which had  been barbecued over a coal-pit in the backyard.

I think we Aussies focus a bit too much on the Greek slow-roasted meats and yeeros, forgetting all those rice-stuffed vegetables (yemista), bean soups (fasolatha) and spinach and feta parcels (spanakopita). These feta-stuffed bullhorn peppers are a special favourite, and here I’ve fancied them up a little with tomatoes, lemon and garlic. If you haven’t been lucky enough to travel to Greece, I hope this gives you a little taste.

• Makes: 4 serves
• Preparation time: 30 minutes
• Cooking time: 50 minutes
• Wine match: A lovely buttery Chardonnay

Ingredients

• 8 bullhorn peppers
• 400gm goats cheese feta
• 4 tomatoes, cut into slices
• handful of fresh oregano (thyme is also good)
• 8 cloves garlic, whole and unpeeled
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the barbecue (or oven) to 200C (392F).

Slice the tops off the bullhorn peppers. Pop a sharp knife into the pepper to cut out the seeds, taking care not to cut open the pepper.

Slice the feta into slices and insert into the peppers. Pour the olive oil and oregano leaves into a ceramic baking dish and rub them all over the peppers, tomato slices and garlic cloves. Arrange everything so it is packed together snugly. Squeeze the lemon juice over the top, then season with salt and pepper.

Pop into the barbecue (on a wire tray so it isn’t touching the grill) and roast for 50 minutes. Serve with crusty bread and a chilled glass of wine. This dish makes a pretty amazing side to slow-roasted lamb, just so you know!

Baby Leek, Cauliflower and Gruyere Tart

I love a good tart, me (said the actress to the bishop). Sweet baby leeks are appearing in our local fresh food market – proof that autumn is properly upon us – and I was feeling all inspired by a pretty phenomenal sweet potato, spinach and ricotta quiche earlier in the day. Nothing like two cream and pastry based meals in a day to get the winter girth kicked off.

This tart is a really easy beast to make, and will fill your whole house with the savoury, anise fragrance of tarragon. As I was assembling it I felt a little dubious about the combination of cauli, leek, tarragon, gruyere and truffle (it seems like too many flavour combinations for one dish) but I can’t tell you how beautifully it all marries. In any case my husband and guests were very quiet while they were eating it, so I take that as a good sign.

Yes, I just had a little leftover slice cold to check that I’m right. And I am.

• Makes: 6 to 8 serves (1 baking tray-sized tart)
• Preparation time: 30 minutes
• Cooking time: 1.5 hours
• Wine match: A lemony white, like Sauvignon Blanc or Semillion

Ingredients

• 2 sheets of puff pastry
• 150gm gruyere cheese
• handful of tarragon leaves, roughly chopped
• 1/2 a cauliflower, sliced very finely
• 6 baby leeks (or 2 large leeks), washed and julienned
• olive oil
• 2 tsp truffle oil
• 300mL pouring cream
• 2 eggs
• salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C (356F).

Grease a baking tray, or line it with grease-proof paper. Lay in the puff pastry. The tart needs 4 or 5cm high edges so you may need to slice it into pieces and re-press it to get the right shape.

Sprinkle in half of the cheese and a third of the tarragon. Lay in the cauliflower, spread over the truffle oil, season with salt and pepper, then sprinkle in another third of the tarragon.

Rub the olive oil over the leeks and arrange over the top of the cauliflower.

Whisk together the eggs and cream and pour evenly across the tart.

Sprinkle the last of the tarragon and cheese over the top, and season  with a little more salt and pepper.

Bake in the oven for 1.5 hours, checking halfway through to make sure it’s not burning – if it’s looking a little too brown reduce the temperature to 160C (320C) for the rest of the cooking time. Allow the tart to cool a little before serving.

Bruschetta (the way it should be)

It seems that for every great bruschetta out there, there’s 10 that are crap. This includes, of course, the version called ‘blue shitter’ that I spotted on a menu in Thailand. Along with most pizza and pasta I just don’t understand how we get it so wrong. Italians are purists who love simplicity and minimal flavours. They don’t make bruschetta with balsamic or (god forbid) onion. No parsley or oregano. So today I’m posting my own recipe in the hope of bringing some purity back to the world of tomato on toast.

This recipe comes from an Italian tourist I got drunk with at a party one night. I don’t speak Italian, so her demonstration was an incomprehensible and theatrical affair, largely fuelled by hundreds of shots of tequila. I understood the motive of this 3am cooking show to be the avoidance of a hangover the next day, to which I unfortunately cannot attest. But I can say I’ve never made bruschetta any other way since.

I hope you love this simple recipe as much as I do, readers. My husband and I have spent many collective hours eating it over the years, usually over a lovely glass of lightly chilled pinot noir. Godere!

• Makes: 2 serves (2 pieces each)
• Preparation time: 15 minutes
• Wine match: Best with a cheeky sangiovese, otherwise a pinot noir.

Ingredients

• 4 thin (5mm) slices of ciabatta
• 16 cherry tomatoes
• 6 basil leaves
• 1 garlic clove, whole
• high quality olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Method

Slice the cherry tomatoes into 5mm cubes. Roll up the basil leaves and slice them into super-fine strips.

Toast the ciabatta, preferably under the grill so it is crispy and golden.

Rub the whole garlic clove onto the toasted ciabatta. On four slices you should use up about half the clove. Drizzle each slice with a little olive oil, then pop on a pile of tomatoes. Add a little nest of basil, then season liberally with salt and pepper.

Comfort Congee

Congee is a common breakfast dish across Asia. It offers all the carbohydrate and protein one needs for the day, delivering the same soothing satisfaction as our western porridge.

Congee is a dish that varies from country to country, province to province, and there as many variations as there are families who make it. I’ve had versions with the consistency of consomme with little balls of mince, and others like risotto with slices of meat or fish. In Thailand congee is served piping hot with an egg cracked into it. If you’re not squeamish about raw egg, give it a try – it’s a glorious thing.

I adore congee and often turn to it for consolation when I’m feeling blue. To me it has the pacifying qualities of chicken soup, and I eat it any time of the day I please. I hope you love this incredibly easy recipe as much as I do readers.

• Makes: 6 to 8 serves
• Preparation time: 15 minutes
• Cooking time: 2 hours
• Wine match: Great with a Chang!

Ingredients

Congee:

• 1 cup jasmine rice
• 6 to 8 cups water
• 1 tbsp chicken stock powder
• 5cm piece of ginger, sliced
• 2 spring onions, knotted
• 1 pandan leaf, knotted
• 300gm chicken, pork or fish mince
• salt and white pepper

Garnishes to serve (per person):

• ginger to taste, peeled and julienned
• scattering of spring onions, finely diagonally sliced
• chilli to taste, finely diagonally sliced
• 3 tsp soy sauce
• 3 tsp fish sauce
• a few drops of sesame oil
• scattering of Chinese fried shallots

Method

Wash the rice then pop in a deep saucepan with all congee ingredients. Bring to the boil and cook until the rice is broken down and starchy. This takes between 40 minutes and 1.5 hours, depending on your texture preference – less time will give a soupy texture, and longer it cooks the thicker and more gelatinous it becomes (the latter is my favourite).

Fish out the onions, ginger and pandan leaf before serving. Serve with garnishes. Marvelous stuff when you’re in need of a warm hug.

Royal Veggie Duck Curry

If I had to pick a favourite season for Thai curries it would have to be autumn. It’s not so cold I want to carb up, and it’s not so hot that raw vegetables are all I could be bothered preparing. This Penang style curry sits perfectly between these two states.

Thai curries are really easy to cook, but it’s true they contain a million ingredients. Your local supermarket chain isn’t guaranteed to have everything you need so it’s best to find a local Asian market or grocer before you decide to cook this dish. The trickiest ingredient is Thai eggplant, but you can substitute them for any other kind of eggplant with success.

This recipe is inspired by the same dish sold at the restaurant at Spa Resort Samui, which is worth travelling to Thailand for I can assure you. I hope you enjoy this curry as much as my husband and I do – it’s glorious stuff!

• Makes: 6 serves
• Preparation time: 30 minutes
• Cooking time: a little under an hour
• Wine match:  the ubiquitous Thai accompaniment, Pinot Gris

Ingredients

Curry paste

• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 2 tsp ground white pepper
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp mace (or nutmeg)
• 2gm nori or other dried seaweed
• 5 coriander roots
• 5 kaffir lime leaves
• 3 tbsp peanuts
• 7 dried chillies
• 1 lemongrass, pounded
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2cm piece galangal
• 3cm piece of ginger
• 3 fresh birds eye chillies
• 4 red shallots

Curry

• 3 cups coconut cream
• handful of curry leaves
• 3 tbsp grated palm sugar (or gula malaka)
• 3 tbsp vegetarian fish sauce
• 3 cups water
• 2 tsp vegetarian chicken stock (e.g. Massel)
• 6 kaffir lime leaves
• 8 Thai eggplants, quartered
• 1 red capsicum, cubed
• 1 white onion, cut into sections like an orange
• 6 large, mild red and green chillies, quartered and seeds removed
• 2 tbsp ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 10 cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 fresh pineapple, cubed
• 1 vegetarian roast duck (e.g. Lamyong)
• 3 big handfuls of Thai basil
• juice of 1 lime

Method

To make the paste toast the cumin and fennel seeds in a hot dry wok until fragrant, then ground with a mortar and pestle. Pop the spices and all other curry paste ingredients into a blender and liquidise until completely smooth. You may need to add some water to give the blender a nudge – just add a little at a time because too much water reduces the flavour of the paste.

Prepare all ingredients for the curry so they’re ready to go.

Heat the wok until very hot, then add 2 cups of coconut cream. When it’s boiling (which should be almost immediately) add the spice paste and stir constantly until you can see oil rising or the mix is fragrant. This process should take about 10 or 15 minutes.

Add the curry leaves, palm sugar and fish sauce and fry for a further 4 or 5 minutes. Add the the final cup of coconut cream, water, stock powder, eggplants, capsicum, chillies and onion. Simmer for 15 minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients to simmer for a further 5 to 10 minutes, until heated through.

Serve immediately with steamed Thai jasmine rice. Aloi mukmuk!