Pan-fried Fish with Fennel, Caper and Lemon Cream Sauce

This picture doesn't do the dish justice, but it really is a delicious dish. This time I served it with cos lettuce from the garden, and sauted potatoes, but it could as easily go with any seasonal steamed green, and mashed potatoes or brown rice......

Ingredients:
- 800 grams firm white fish
- Olive oil
- Good knob butter
- 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced, fronds reserved
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3 Tablespoons capers
- Zest 1 lemon
- 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 cup cream
- 1 cup stock (fish or vegetable is best)
- Handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- Sea salt and pepper

Method:
Cut the fish into portions and season. Heat the oil and butter in a large saute pan and when the butter is sizzling add the fish. Cook until golden and just cooked through. Transfer to a plate, cover, and keep warm. Don't wash the pan.

Add the fennel to the pan and cook until tender. Add the garlic, capers, lemon zest and juice and let it bubble 1 minute. Add the cream, and stock, and season, and simmer until the sauce has reduced and thickened a little. Stir in the parsley.

Best served with rice.

Japanese Style Eggs with Sage

This is a variation on a recipe from the Nikau Cafe, using my favourite style of eggs, kind of japanese style - semi omelette, semi scrambled......
http://www.tv3.co.nz/Sage-Eggs-Nikau-Gallery-Cafe/tabid/2226/articleID/72759/Default.aspx

Serves 1 person

Ingredients:
- 10-15 sage leaves
- 2 eggs
- Sprouts for garnish (optional)
- Wholemeal grain bread (your choice)

Method:
- Fry sage in a little butter until starting to crispen, then take off heat, and put aside.
- Whisk eggs. I don't add anything, but feel free to add salt to taste.
- Toast bread.
- Meanwhile, put a little butter in a frying pan, and then pour in the egg (as if you're making an omelette). Then once the egg is starting to set on the bottom (but not set on the top), fold the egg over and over to create a long thin tube. Then press down and slice into pieces using a fish slice.  Add the sage back into the pan next to the sliced egg, and allow to sit for another couple of minutes.
- Serve on toast with sprouts for garnish.

Italian Inspired 10 Minute Tuna Pasta Salad

I learned this one from my Italian friends back in 2002 when I was in Italy for a month. I've since played around with it a lot. So there are lots of variations. And it's probably no longer authentic, but it makes a great easy lunch, dinner or snack none-the-less.

Ingredients (this recipe is so flexible, so use what you have to hand):
- 1 can tuna (large can)
- Cooked wholemeal pasta (spirals or penne is good) 
- Kalamata olives (or other of your choice)
- Garlic (you can saute it briefly if you prefer)
- Lemon juice
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Marinated mixed vegetables in a jar (you can get from Italian Food Warehouse). This is the most authentic option. OR fresh seasonal vegetables work well too. In this example, I used: baby spinach, basil, roasted capsicum, and fresh tomato.

Palak Paneer (Paneer in a spinach curry)

 This recipe is sourced from the following website:
http://www.indiansimmer.com/2010/07/palak-paneer-for-my-birthday.html

Ingredients:

450g fresh green spinach
225g packet of paneer cut into cubes
1 cup red chopped onion
1 cup tomato pureed
3-4 cloves garlic
1 1/2 inch ginger
2-3 thai green chili
1 tsp fennel seeds
3-4 cloves
1/4 cup cream or 2 tbsp sour cream
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
3 tbsp olive oil/cooking oil


Method:

Boil spinach in a big pot adding fennel seeds and cloves to it. Save the water in which you boiled your spinach. Let the spinach cool and then blend in a blender. Remove from blender and put in a bowl.

Using blender, blend onion, ginger, garlic and thai chilli.

Heat oil in a medium sized pot and add the paste of onion, garlic and the other ingredients. Cook until the paste starts changing color from light pink to darker pink and then slowly towards golden. Then add coriander powder & curry powder. Mix it all together and add pureed tomato.

Cook everything until the paste is thicker and all the liquid from the tomato is cooked. Then add the pureed mixture of spinach, fennel seeds and cloves.

Stir on a low heat for a minute or two and then cover it with a lid to let it cook. If you think the gravy is too thick for you add a ladle or two of the saved boiled water from the spinach.

In a separate sauce pan boil salted water, turn off the heat and then add the paneer cubes. Leave for 2-3 minutes while the curry is being cooked. This helps drain all the excess fat from the cheese making it softer.

Then add cream or sour cream whatever you are using to the spinach curry. Mix well.

Drain paneer cubes from the salt water and add to the gravy. Voila.

Parsnip carrot lentil ragout

I have made this dish so many times, and love it.

Ingredients
- 1 parsnip, diced
- equivalent in carrot, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 cup dried lentils (puy, or brown)
- 6 cups vegetable stock
- Sour cream to taste
- Herbs of your choice (eg: thyme, rosemary)

Directions
Pan fry carrots, parsnips, and onion in a bit of oil, until golden.
In the meantime, boil the lentils in water until cooked.
Add together, along with herbs and stock cubes.
Serve, with a big dollop of sour cream, cracked pepper, and a nice piece of bread.