Breakfast Bars

A friend of mine is having a baby soon (there are so many people with babies and weddings!) and so a bunch of friends decided to make up a hamper for her... I offered to bake up a few things to put in there, considering shes going to be getting a few visitors, as well as being too knackered to do anything (even though she is a chef - it doesnt mean she can be bothered to cook with a new baby!) I decided to put, amongst other things, some breakfast bars together.

Oaty, nutty, fruity and sweet, bars like these are intended for people who need some energy and sustenance, fast!

I was leafing through Nigella Lawsons book, Express (which I picked up quite cheap from catchoftheday.com.au) and I came upon a recipe for breakfast bars, which called for things I had lurking in my cupboard already.

Ingredients

• 1 x 397g can condensed milk (really..? I just used the normal sized can. which is 395g)
  
• 250g rolled oats (not instant)
• 75g shredded coconut
• 100g dried cranberries
• 125g mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame)
• 125g natural unsalted peanuts

Ok I didnt follow the recipe exactly, as I had no shredded coconut and not that many cranberries. I get little boxes of dried fruit and nuts every week from Harvest Box  of which I often put the contents into a jar, as a result I have quite a collection of dried strips of mango, prunes, flame raisins, apricots, apples etc. So I just gathered around about 125g of mixed nuts and 150g of mixed dried fruits...

A couple of things about the recipe... You cant leave the condensed milk very long in the pan as it starts to caramalise and you get little brown flecks through the sweet viscous liquid. It turns out it doesnt really matter if it happens a little bit, but if you leave it long enough its just going to burn... this you do not want!

When the mix is in the tin to bake it is VERY sticky, try not to use your hands unless theyre greased or use a spatula or a spoon. I got it aaaaaaaall over my hands! Yummy to lick off though :D

Heres the method, as found on Nigellas website; 

Method

Makes 16

1. Preheat the oven to 130°C/gas mark 1/2, and oil a 23 x 33 x 4cm baking tin, or use a throwaway foil one.
2. Warm the condensed milk in a large pan.
3. Meanwhile, mix together all the other ingredients and then add the warmed condensed milk, using a rubber or wooden spatula to fold and distribute.
4. Spread the mixture into the tin and press down with the spatula or, better still, your hands (wearing disposable vinyl gloves to stop you sticking), to even the surface.
5. Bake for 1 hour, then remove from the oven and, after about 15 minutes, cut into four across, and four down to make 16 chunky bars. Let cool completely.

Donations page - Breakfast with Benefits

http://fundraise.pinkribbonbreakfast.org.au/jacqui_edwards_edwards

Go to this page to donate to the Pink Ribbon Breakfast with Benefits campaign!

Il be hosting a breakfast to celebrate the simple things in life, but the most important; friends, family and great food! Im going to use as much local produce as possible, and put together tasting plates of delicious breakfast inspired items so you and your friends can share in the yumminess!

If you cant make it, Id love it if you could donate, even just a small amount! Every bit counts, and my target is $500 by november 15th.

Thanks in advance for your support!!

Breakfast with Benefits

Ive decided that Im going to host an event for Breakfast with Benefits, a Pink Ribbon initiative to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer. You host a breakfast wherever you like, for however many people you like, and you get your guests to donate money which goes toward breast cancer research. You can get them to donate any way you like, a gold coin/note donation, you can have games they can pay to enter, they can pay for certain dishes they'd like to eat... the sky is the limit!You sign up on their website and you can get people to donate through there as well if they'd prefer.


Im still not 100% sure how I'd like to set mine up... Im thinking about doing a set course brunch, or having a choice of breakfast tasting plates, or just having a bit of a buffet set up. I guess it depends on the amount of people I would be expecting... But I've been thinking of the dishes I could include...

Baked spiced ricotta, with natural honey and walnuts on toasted sourdough
Buttermilk pancakes with poached plums
Bagels with smoked salmon, and fresh herb scrambled eggs
Roast balsamic field mushrooms with fetta, spinach and pangratatto
Porridge with apple compote and oat crumble
Bacon and egg baguettes with tomato chutney
Grilled stone fruits with citrus mascapone
Chipolatas, bacon and homemade beans w/ toasted sourdough
Rolled oats, greek yoghurt, natural honey and fresh fruit/nuts

Fresh filter coffee
Fresh OJ
Loose leaf tea

How do those menu items sound to you guys? I wouldnt do them all, but Id choose a couple from this list! The beauty of most of these is that they can have alot of the work done in advance, or the work involved at the time, is minimal...

Id also like to get some awesome suppliers to donate some of the produce, and make up some small hampers that people can buy, including things like jams, breads, olives, eggs, wine etc. Id use as much local produce as I could, Bannister Downs milk, free range Eggs by Ellah, local honey (there are quite a few to choose from), Loafers organic bread, local meat (there are loads of great butchers in Perth! Jus head to Subiaco Farmers Market on Saturdays to see a couple!) to name but a few! Id likely get my veges from The Organic Collective who are great, and I get my weekly veges from them anyway...

I may even do it over a few days, the same thing each day but with different guests, to make it a cosy atmosphere. It would also be great to get some of the perth bloggers to come along, the whole point of the event is to raise awareness about breast cancer, and how great would it be to get the support of well known bloggers who could spread the word?!

Would love to hear your thoughts on the whole thing! Ideas, suggestions, reality checks welcome!

Here is my donations page
http://fundraise.pinkribbonbreakfast.org.au/jacqui_edwards_edwards

Tamarind Asian and Cambodian restaurant, Mt Hawthorn

On a friday night after a long working week, S and I decided to finally try Tamarind, an asian restaurant that we had driven past loads of times but never actually gone into as yet... We looked at the menu, decided there were things we could both find that we would like, and made a booking easily.


Parking isnt great around there, right in front of the place, but the Mezz shopping centre is behind it and so we just parked in the carpark round the back - theres plenty of parking there.


We were seated quickly, in the corner, we were a bit against the wall, I had to move the table out so I could actually get in! Its BYO so we cracked open our bottle of wine, just after the waiter had asked if we needed our wine glasses and we said yes, S said he'd also use the water glasses. Then the waiter took my glass. Huh? I just took another glass from their table where they store everything...


We ordered chicken spring rolls which came out really fast, and were as to be expected. They were pretty tasty, but much  better with the sauce, which was a sweet, spicy thin and clear dipping sauce which comes standard with most spring rolls. Sometimes this sauce is a bit hit n miss but this one was great. Forgot to take a pic though, as we were starving and they were gone in a few mins!


For mains I ordered a chicken laksa with yellow noodles (egg noodles, you could also choose rice noodles, seafood or vegetarian), and S had Jungle Curry.

Jungle Curry

They both came out just as we had finished our spring rolls, so any chance for a bit of a drawn out meal weren't happening. The Jungle curry came out first, with the rice we had ordered in a little metal bucket which were cute. We werent sure if what had been put down on the table was the right thing, as the waiter muttered something incomprehensible when he delivered the food and we didnt hear if he said Jungle Curry. It didnt look much like a curry. It did say that it was a dry curry, using Nyonya curry powder, but this looked like it had very little sauce at all! I might be wrong but I expect curries to have a thicker coating than what this curry offered. Nevertheless, it was tasty, and a bit spicy! I only tasted a few pieces and it had some heat, so no doubt after a couple of mouthfuls you'll be feeling the fire! It was served with stirfried bok choi and broccoli, and was a generous serving. I think it would have been 2 breasts of chicken worth - S was stuffed once he finished! He enjoyed his meal and finished almost all of it (cept alot of the greens, which is no surprise!). He ordered some extra chillies on the side which he really enjoyed - they were really fresh and hot, with a strong chilli flavour which he loves. If you were expecting a saucier curry then this might dissappoint, but it didnt lack flavour which is the most important thing! It resembled more of a stir fried dish.

Chicken Laksa with yellow noodles

My order came a couple of minutes after the S's, and it looked awesome. Like I said, we were hungry, and having this massive, steaming bowl of laksa put in front of me was a definate win! It smelled great. There were plenty of veges (sugar snap peas, brocolli and asian greens), and good chunks of chicken. Underneath were lots of egg noodles and bean sprouts. The sauce was rich, coconutty and spicy with a great flavour. It warmed me to my bones! I loved it, to me it was exactly as I was expecting, and as I wanted it to be. It was a big serving and I ended up being greedy and putting rice in the leftover sauce to soak up and spooning it up into my mouth to finish it off. I was stuffed. I ate way more than I should have of it, but I couldnt help it. It was a delicious laksa. It did remind me ALOT of the bamboo chicken from Hans Cafe, but I love that dish, so didnt mind that it tasted the same! Ill definately go back there for another one - but there were a few other things I wanted to try as well!


Tamarind also do takeaways, and we noticed alot of people coming in and out picking up orders. The restaurant was pretty busy, but not too busy that we were neglected, and it wasnt too noisy. There were alot of kids there though, Im not sure if that was just last night or if its like that all the time, but it seems like a kid friendly place to go! I dont mind kids and even though some of them were being a bit loud and acting up a bit I didnt really care, it was more funny than anything. However if you're easily annoyed by kids then it would have been an average night out for you!


Our food came out really fast and we only managed to have one drink each, we were booked in for 6:30 and were out of there by about 7:15 or so. If youre looking for a fast feed this is the place to get it!


Things to note;

• Tamarind is BYO everything (we rang and checked) and they had no probs with S bringing in a 200ml bottle of whisky to mix with coke we bought there, and I had a bottle of wine. They charge $3 per person.
• The menu is gluten and MSG free, so those sensitive to these, come and get a belly full of food without the bellyache!

We paid about $60 for spring rolls (4), 2 mains, 2 serves of rice and corkage, which isnt too bad, but Ive been to asian places that were cheaper, but not really by that much...  Atmosphere is a bit average, but that was ok. Place was full of the sound of diners and chatter.




Considering its walking distance away, Id come back here!

Ha-Lu Japanese - Mt Hawthorn

Ever since introducing my bf to Japanese food, and him making the realisation that its actually not that scary, he booked us into Ha-Lu (Oxford St, Mt Hawthorn), on the last table available on a Saturday night. We'd called before and the lady on the phone, who both times has been really helpful and friendly, had told us they were booked out but would call us if they had a cancellation if we wanted her to. She did call us back but it was 8:30 and we had already decided to go out somewhere else, but she was fine with it. Before we'd even gotten there, the staff had won brownie points!


We've driven past it 100 times and you'd be forgiven for not knowing it was there until you knew about it, as its kinda tucked away next to an alleyway on the right and some fairly nondescript shops on the left. Parking was easy as we were booked in for 6:00, so just parked on the road across the street (which was also free, bonus!). We arrived to find a simply furnished, small restaurant where you can see into the kitchen clearly. It wasnt noisy though, and we were seated quickly by very friendly staff, and bought a warm moist towel, which was a cool, if a bit airline-esque, touch.

 

 Impressive sake collection we were sat opposite from, and in the background, the kitchen.

We had our drink orders taken, and then a wiry, smiley older Japanese waiter came and explained the way the dishes should be ordered, asked if we had any questions and then left us to peruse the menu. All the staff were Japanese, and most of them spoke excellent english. The ones who didnt speak excellent english still spoke well they were just not as easy to understand due to an accent, but we didnt find it an issue at all. The whole night the staff were really friendly, always had a smile on their face and were very helpful and accomodating.

Our waiter had told us that the menu was intended to share, the dishes were small and it allowed you to sample many things. He suggested getting 2-3 dishes each, 2 or 3 from the cold/starters selection, and 2-3 from the hot section. 

We took his advice and for entree ordered the tartar style sashimi of the day (thin strips of seasoned sashimi served with wasabi mayo and tortilla chips) which was $10.50 and the wagyu beef tataki (seared local wagy beef, thinly sliced and served with seasoned root vegetables) which was $17.

The beef was really nice, it was sliced really thinly and came with a thin soy dipping sauce. It tasted so meaty and lacked the "raw" flavour that some meat can have when served so rare. We both really enjoyed it, and compared to the beef tataki we had tried at Banzi Sushi and Noodle House in Leederville, it was worth the difference in price.

Wagyu beef tataki

The sashimi we ordered was on a bit of a whim. Im not crazy about it, bf had never tried it but is funny about textures but is going through a phase of wanting to try everything! So we ordered it as I heard heard many good things about the quality of the sashimi  here. It came out looking good, the sashimi of the day was salmon, tuna and scallop and it was seasoned with sesame oil and perhaps something slightly spicy? We werent too sure, but it looked a bit like the "tartar style" was the offcuts of the more expensive dish, sashimi of the day which came with 3 slices of each. For me, it was fine, but Im not huge on sashimi anyway. Bf, as I had predicted, didnt like the texture of it at all, it was a bit too slimy for him! I was also of the opinion it could have been less slippery, however am in no real position to judge as I don't often eat it. I also forgot to take a pic of it!

For mains we ordered scallop nanban (deep fried Hokkaido scallops marinated in sweet soy vinigarette, served with crispy lotus root chips, chilli mayo and pumpkin julienne) which was $18, Nikujaga (deep fried potato dumpling with slow cooked beef and onion filling, served with a light dashi soy sauce) for $14, grilled miso patagonian toothfish (sweet white miso marinated toothfish with grilled tomato) for $17 and duck and aubergine madiera sauce (slow cooked duck breast and aubergine served with madeira tamari soy sauce and a hint of japanese mustard) for $15.

Scallops Nanban

The scallops came out looking great, with a line of ground chilli either side of the symmetrical and plump looking scallops. This was something that bf hadnt tried before either and I wasnt convinced, again that he would like the texture. But with scallops it can go either way. For both of us, they could have been cooked a few minutes more, they were really soft and for me, resembled the texture of not quite cooked egg white. Im not a big seafood eater so I can imagine that for some these were perfectly cooked, but for my tastes, I would have loved them to have more of a bite to them. Aside from the textural thing though, they were nice, the lotus chips had a nice toothy crunch to them, and the chilli mayo on top was really nice.

Nikujaga (potato dumplings with slow cooked beef and onion filling in a light soy dashi sauce)

The nikujaga (potato dumplings) came out in a bowl, with a teapot with the soy dashi sauce. The waitress placed the dumplings on the table and then poured the soy dashi sauce into the bowl and we tucked in. They werent the lightest thing on the menu, which is kinda what you expect from japanese food, however they were tasty! Bf loved them, they were like mashed potato, with a centre of slow cooked, falling apart, saucy beef, like the inside of a good pie, which had then been deep fried. I didnt get much of a chance to try the sauce, because the waitress took it before I'd even tried it! There were 3 good sized dumplings which bf could have easily polished off on his own! They were a mission to eat with chopsticks but Im pretty good with them and managed ok, bf on the other hand, got a bit stabby with them!

Duck and aubergine madiera sauce

 This was yummy duck! It was served slightly more rare than I would have liked, and without enough of the fat rendered down, or as crispy as I would have liked but it was tender and juicy! The aubergine was also really nice, it was just as I like it to be, not bitter, not slimy! The sauce was rich, with a sticky sweetness that goes so well with duck, and a sharpness that without it, the duck fat would have been too much. The mustard was also a nice touch, you certainly didnt need much of it, and you didnt get much of it either! It was sharp as well but without the sweetness of the madeira sauce, and again cut nicely through the richness of the duck. 

Miso marinated Patagonian toothfish

The last dish we had was the toothfish, which I ordered because I couldnt decide between a few other things, and it had come recommended by another blogger, Foodie Cravings. It tasted distinctively like miso, and the fish flaked away perfectly.  It was soft, juicy and full of flavour. I did find the miso slightly overpowering, and after a while it was all I could taste, but I did enjoy it.

I have a feeling alot of the seafood we ordered was actually very good, but not being a huge seafood fan, it didnt wow us. We were impressed by the wagyu beef tataki, especially as we had something else to compare it to. The potato dumpling was nice but it didnt strike me as very japanese, though it went down a treat!

The service the whole night was very good, and they were very quick to clear plates etc away, especially as you do often have 3 or 4 plates going on at one time. They have a very impressive list of sake, ginjo (aromatic style sake), as well as shochu which are distilled spirits, whose flavour reflects the ingredients used to make it, which includes sweet potato, wheat, and barley, as well as combinations.

The desserts are western style, with a white choc and berry pannacotta (we had that, it was nice but didnt blow my mind - however I was pleased to see that it appeared to have been made in house, which many restaurants tend not to do these days, buying things in instead), creme brulee, and baked cheesecake. 

I think that we would probably go back, but next time stick to the things we know we'll enjoy, rather than having a go at things that were not overly keen on but wanna try something different than chicken katsu. I do normally order things that I would not make at home, and enjoy trying new things but I think we went a bit overboard in this case! But now I can say that for me, its not really worth paying alot of money for sushi/sashimi because its a bit wasted on me!

There are definately things on the menu that I would like to try,  so I think I would go back, for sure :)

Yorkshire Pudding - Jamie Oliver

Ive never made yorkie puds before, and with my spice rubbed roast tonight, I decided to give it a go after the bf begged n pleaded for it with gravy.


I used the recipe from Jamie Olivers Ministry of Food book... here it is!

Ingredients

3 eggs
115g flour
285ml milk
salt
oil (I used rice bran oil)


Method
1) Whisk the eggs, flour, milk and salt really well in a bowl to make the batter, pour into a jug and set aside for 30mins. This allows your batter to become really light.


2) Turn the oven up to its highest setting, and place a 12 cup muffin tray in to heat up for 5 mins.


3) Place a tablespoon of oil into each muffin hole, put the tray back in the oven to heat until the oil is very hot.


4) Slide the tray half out, and carefully pour the batter into the hot oil, then close the door and cook for 15mins without opening the door.


5) Serve immediately.


I cooked mine in a loaf tin, but stupidly didnt cook it for much longer than the recipe specified, even though it was in a bigger container. However it still rose up really nicely, and was golden and crispy on the top. However on the bottom it had the consistency of tofu/soft cheese/baked custard, which was kinda weird lol it still tasted like it was meant to, but just obviously needed more time. I think yorkies need to be cooked in a shallower pan than a loaf tin, because the time it takes for the bottom/middle of it to cook, the top will be burnt. Note to self - dont forget to adjust cooking times when you change the cooking container! Lesson learnt!


 Another hot tip. The oil has to be HOT HOT HOT! When you pour the batter in, it has to bubble up and almost look like it split/curdled. Once it goes back in the oven, itll puff up and youll end up with batter bits which are guilty chefs privileges!

It tasted just like it was meant to, drowned in pan juice gravy, with succulent spice rubbed beef roast.

Happy days :)


PS bit of an update! I tried these again, same recipe but using a muffin tray, and kept them in for longer... Much bigger success!! They were massive, and my bfs parents, who are from Yorkshire, loved them :) WOO! Note though, if your oven is crap and unevenly heated like mine, the back ones *might* burn a bit... hmf...

Kitsch Bar - Leederville

Last night my bf and I decided to go out, on the spur of the moment. He was googling places that were close by and came up with Kitsch Bar, that we had never heard of, in Leederville. The menu looked cool so we rang up for a reservation. The guy we spoke to said that they were busy, but to call 30mins before we'd get there, he'd see how they were going and they'd reserve something for us, if not to have another drink or take our time getting there. He was quite accomodating and very friendly. We got there amid a staff member telling some customers lining up that they had no table as yet, but have a drink and when a table comes up we'll come get you. Take note, its a busy place! Book ahead!!

Graphics from the Kitsch Bar website, which gives an indication of the decor inside.

We got straight in and were shown to a table. Well it wasnt a table really, it was some wood sticking out from the wall, with another smaller platform above it for putting drinks etc. The table was REALLY small... It was also REALLY dark, we needed to use our phones to read the menu, which wasnt ideal! We ordered some drinks, which came out quickly, and our food ordered were taken quickly as well.

We ordered;
sechuan peppered duck, w/green apple, and ginger salad and candied chilli
spiced green papaya salad w/peanuts, cherry tomatoes and sweet, salty pork ribs
steamed pork dumplings w/hot chilli sauce and sticky soya
serve of rice 

Our table was really small and so we were a bit worried about all our food coming out and it not fitting, but the waiter told us that the food comes out as its ready, and so more than likely we'd manage it. We got the duck and pork dumplings first, as well as a serve of rice which pretty much filled our table! Our drinks were on the little platform above, and we had no more room! But we were managing.

The duck was SO GOOD!! It was crispy and crunchy, deliciously salty peppered skin, and the meat was easy to pick off the bones. My bf didnt talk much during this part of the meal, he loves fried chicken and so fried duck was pretty special in his eyes! I let him have his moment with the duck. The salad it came with was really nice, it was nice n sharp, really lemony which was great with the fatty salty richness of the duck.

The pork dumplings were really small, smaller than we expected for $10. They looked cute though, and they had a little dollop of spicy chilli sauce drizzled with sticky soy sauce. While they were small, they were tasty, and the sauce that came with them in a little spoon was good, I couldnt put my finger on what it was, but it was nice! Just wish they were bigger!

Pork Dumplings (Photo courtesy of http://www.spicyicecream.com.au/)

The green papaya salad we both didnt really like... to be honest, Ive never had it before so dont know what its meant to taste, like but I had high expectations because so many people have gone on about it. I found it too heavy on the fish sauce, and the other elements of the salad didnt add much to it, there were no other flavours t hat really stood out, and I found it quite unexciting. The pork ribs though were really nice, sticky and sweet, slow cooked to falling apart deliciousness! However, it was so dark that we couldnt see where the little bones etc were so it could have been a danger! Would love to order it again but without the salad... There was alot of it, and considering we werent huge fans of it, less of it would have been better!

Green papaya salad w/pork ribs (Photo courtesy of www.spicyicecream.com.au).

We had a great night at Kitsch. The vibe was really cool and we loved the way it was decorated. It had a really good feel to it, everyone in there was laughing and having a great time, we found the service to be friendly and generally prompt. Our waiter was very laid back, always had a smile on his face, he had a chat to us about the phone I was using, and was generally very friendly. The guy in charge of FOH was also very friendly, stopping by for a quick chat.

Beer garden at Kitch (Photo courtesy of www.perthnow.com.au)

For another great review of Kitsch check out this great review from Spicy Ice Cream.

Unfortunately I didnt take any of my own pictures at Kitsch, because we were planning on heading out later on and I didnt want to take my SLR out with  me. I wasnt going to bother using my phone to take pics because it was simply too dark for my phone to capture any kind of quality image. So I used others that I found on the web and have given full credit for all of them.

Tagliatelli w/ cauliflower strascicata - Jared Ingersoll

Now that we've finally unpacked, and Ive decluttered the kitchen somewhat, Ive managed to get cooking properly again! I really wanted to get stuck into something else from Jared Ingersolls book, Dank St Depot, but when I was looking through it, the things I wanted to cook I wasnt in the mood for, or I needed more time to prepare. So I ended up going for the pasta with cauliflower, because we ALWAYS have cauli in our vege box, and I run out of ways to use it...

Heres the recipe from the book...

Ingredients (serves 4)
400g Spaghetti (I used tagliatelli)
100ml EVOO
1/2 head of cauliflower, chopped into pieces about the size of ur thumbnail)
3 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly (I used 2 huge ones)
3 anchovy fillets, chopped
2 large chillies, chopped (keep seeds in for more heat)
50g salted capers, rinsed and chopped (I used capers in vinegar, because Woolies failed me again, I rinsed them 3 times though, to get rid of too much tang)
100g pitted olives, chopped (I omitted them, cos neither of us live olives)
1 punch of flat leaf parsley, chopped
60g toasted sourdough breadcrumbs
200g freshly grated parmesan


Method
1) Cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling water until al dente. Drain, then cool; while cooling, drizzle with a little EVOO, then gently toss.


2) In a large heavy based frying pan, heat the rest of the oil over a medium heat, add the cauli and fry until just starting to colour. Add the garlic, mix well, then add the anchovies, chillies, capers and olives.


3) When the cauli starts to become to tender and has a rich brown colour, add half of the parsley and the cooked spag. When the pasta is hot, add the rest of the parsley, breadcrumbs and parmesan.


This I cannot stress enough, use the BIGGEST pan you have! I underestimated how big my pan needed to be and ended up making a mess of my stove because I spilled everything! This fella knows what hes talking about when he says "in a LARGE heavy based pan...", use one bigger than you need if necessary, theres alot of stirring and tossing of ingredients, save mess! Big pan!


4) The parmesan will start to stick to the pan, use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan (this is where the term strascicata comes from, meaning drag). Remove from the heat, serve immediately with a wedge of lemon.

Due to my bfs aversion to meals without meat, I served this with a couple of lamb cutlets bought from my local butcher. I have to say, I nailed the lamb, it was cooked perfectly, given ample time to rest, they were juicy and pink. YUM! They went really well with this dish too, as I think you need a meat strong enough to contend with the capers, anchovies and parmesan, which these juicy little morsels did, and with pleasure! I also think it would go so well with fish flaked through it, smoked fish, salmon, a meaty white fish... experiment to your hearts content!

The pasta itself was good. I would do a few things differently next time, though keeping the ingredients essentially the same. As Im not a huge fan of anchovies, I found this recipe allowed too much of the actual anchovy flavour to come through, rather than as a seasoning or layer of flavour. I would add it first, before the cauli, to allow it to dissolve, and it would compliment the cooking garlic perfectly, and flavour the oil that the cauli gets cooked in. Actually, Id probably add everything else, first, and the cauli last, but blanch it first to take the initial crunch out of it.

Id definately make this again, but Id make some changes, purely for my own personal tastes. Bf loved it, he wants me to make it again, so Im sure that I will! Its also a great way to sneak cauli into your meals, and introduced me to a new way of preparing it... next time im just going to cook the cauli, perhaps with some cumin, coriander, S&P... the new popcorn!?

PS check out this link, its pretty much the same recipe but altered for the TV show ready steady cook, and it serves less...

PPS sorry for the horrible way the photos have come out! For some reason, blogger.com has changed the way you upload pics and taken away the ability to resize pics yourself, you can only choose a preset size. As such, my photos have come out all stretched and weird, and I dont know how to fix it, without going to another website and hosting my pics in a smaller format... Ill get around to it but for now, you get the gist.