Asparagus & black sesame tarts - no tomato sauce allowed

Another take on the mini frittatas - this time by Jonathan. He went off into the kitchen one night and came back with these fabulous creations. Mushroom, cheese & asparagus tarts with truffle oil, caramelised onion & broccolini, topped with black sesame seeds. The rocket salad was delicious: marinated artichokes & pine nuts with a white balsamic dressing.

The craziest thing was these puff pastry triangles that accompanied it. So yummy & great decoration. He baked them in the oven & drizzled them with olive oil. There's something about puff pastry that always makes me want to reach for the tomato sauce - but to do so this night would have been a sin punishable by sentence of a lifetime of sausage rolls, so I resisted the urge.

Mmmm, mushrooms & brie

Roasting field mushrooms is a great idea for dinner - but sometimes they can go a bit tough in the oven. Jonathan's latest method is to do them in a pan with a glass lid on. That way they get fried in their own juices and retain their moisture.

I think these ones were done in the oven, to get the brie nice & melty. I've mentioned before how much I like roasted broccolini - although it too can go a bit dry in the oven.

A way around this is to put cherry tomatoes on the broccolini - give the tomatoes a squeeze before doing so. This way the juice can escape and keep the greens moist.

Just in case you think I lie around drinking vodka cocktails while Jonathan does all the hard work, I grew those little cherry tomatoes in pots on our balcony this summer. Amazing what one can achieve with a trowel in one hand & vodka cocktail in the other!

From Italian class- a phrase to live by

"Modestamente, oltre a essere un' amante straordinaria, sono anche una cuoca eccezionale!"

"Modestly speaking, as well as being an extraordinary lover, I'm also an exceptional cook!"

Cheesy yummy goodness

If you have someone in your life (Jonathan) who doesn't like frittata because it's 'too eggy' then trick them into eating it by making little mini ones!

First I cooked mushrooms, onions and capsicum in a pan. Then, I made a mixture of eggs & milk with cottage cheese, spinach & tasty cheese. After spooning a bit of the mushroom mix into teach part of the muffin tray, I then tipped the fritatta mix over. Finally I put some feta on top & cooked them for about 20 mins until they looked done.

Once out of the oven I put some chopped corinader on the top & they were ready to go - & so yummy. Next time I would probably use something like parmesan to give them more of a bite, but as you can tell by the bottle in the background I cover most my food with chilli sauce, so that made up for it.

Who invited the vegetarians to the BBQ?

It always amuses my Mum when we have a 'roast' for dinner - if you don't have meat, how can it be a roast? By having mushrooms, potatos, broccollini, eggplant, shallots, kumara, pumpkin, etc etc.

Same goes with a BBQ, we BBQ anything we think of & the variety is what makes it all so delicious.

This night we had haloumi; oyster mushrooms cooked in mirin; eggplant marinated in soy, honey & garlic; asparagus with parmesan butter; bok choy; and vege skewers with peanut sauce. On the skewers we had tofu, capsicum, red onion and mushrooms.

Fresh rice paper rolls so good you won't have to eat your Bible

When I was younger I was always fascinated after someone told me the pages in our Bible were written on rice paper. I always wondered if it was true & if it meant you could eat your way through the book if you wanted or needed to.

The good news is you probably wont need to, if your local supermarket sells rice paper in packets. These are so easy to make & look quite impressive when you serve them.

I set up in the kitchen with a bowl of warm water & lots of little piles of whatever I'm putting in the rolls: finely cut carrot & celery sticks; crushed peanuts; mint; coriander; strips of marinated tofu; rice noodles cut into 5cm lengths.

When cooking rice noodles, I boil the water & when its bubbling throw in the noodels & turn the heat off. Drain after no more than 30 - 40 seconds as they cook really fast & you don't want them too soft. I just grab bunches and cut them into lengths of about 5cm, with a pair of kitchen scissors.

Take your first piece of rice paper and put it in the bowl of warm water. Once its just soft, pull it out and pat it on a clean tea towel to absorb excess moisture. Then place it on a big chopping board & arrange some of each of your ingredients in the centre of the paper, and about 3cm up from the edge closest to you.

When you've put your filling in, roll up the edge closest to you & then fold the sides in. Then roll up by pushing away from you.

Serve straight after making with the dipping sauce of your choice. I like to buy a satay sauce or make my own soy dipping sauce.

Dipping sauce:

In a small bowl, put 1 tablespoon malt vinegar, 3 teaspoons brown sugar, 2 teaspoons sweet chilli sauce, 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce. Mix and add ingredients to suit your taste. I add fresh chilli and chives too.

We call this Bec-a-licious

We call this Bec-a-licous because she first made it for us at a BBQ at Rogers. She in turn stole the idea from a restaurant in Newtown during one of those moments where you think 'I could make this at home...'

Jonathan made this delicious creation, by first caramelising the onions - a mix of white & red - and cooking mushrooms in a pan with butter. He then baked them on top of the puff pastry with blue cheese, blanched broccollini & parmesan. Once cooked it was topped with fresh rocket and toasted walnuts before serving.

Soooo yummy, with the sweetness of the onions and the tartness of the blue cheese. And its got salad on top so its a meal in itself.