We made it - paella

Paella is one of my favourite dishes. It is a very traditional dish and there are many versions. Frank Camorra from Movida says that a paella is an outdoor dish, cooked over a bed of coals, and it is customary in Spain for men, rather than women, to make paella. His version, in his superb Movida cookbook, includes white rabbit, mussels, king prawns, periwinkles, squid and firm-fleshed fish. It is a reasonably complicated and time-consuming dish.

But there is also a place for an easier version of paella. Although purists may scoff, and argue that this is not a traditional paella but more of a tomato and rice-based dish, it is still a way to enjoy the flavours of paella on a busy weeknight. And so it was that the first dish I made from this month's Donna Hay Magazine in the We Made It challenge was the chicken, prawn and tomato paella dish.

It was extremely easy to make and absolutely delicious. Next time I would add some chorizo for some extra flavour and spice. I'm sure this moves the dish even further away from traditional paella. But, call it what you will, I urge you to make this dish: it is wonderful!

Chicken, prawn and tomato paella
Recipe from Donna Hay magazine, issue 49, Feb/Mar 2010

1 1/2 Tb olive oil
1 x 200g chicken breast fillet, trimmed and chopped
200g green (raw) prawns, peeled, tails intact
1 small brown onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
3/4 cup (150g) medium-grain rice
1 x 400g can diced tomatoes
1 1/4 cups (310ml) chicken stock
flat-leaf parsley leaves and lemon wedges, to serve

Heat 1 Tb of the oil in a medium non-stick frying pan over high heat. Add the chicken and prawns and cook for 4-5 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Set aside and keep warm.

Add the remaining oil to the pan with the onion, garlic, chilli and paprika and cook for 2 minutes or until softened. Add the rice, tomato and stock, reduce heat to low and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Stir through the chicken and prawns and cook for a further 1 minute. Top with parsley and serve with lemon wedges. Serves 2.

We made it: roast lamb

My friend John believes that there's nothing a cup of tea can't fix. I feel the same way about roasts. There's something so soothing and satisfying about a good roast, especially for Sunday lunch or dinner. It's one of the easiest meals to put together - throw your meat and vegetables into the oven to roast, cook some carrots and greens separately, and you have a wonderful meal with a minimum of effort.

So you might think that a recipe for a roast is not necessary - and normally I would agree. But the Dec/Jan issue of delicious magazine included an intriguing recipe for shortcut roast lamb with watercress and hazelnut salad and I had to try it. It wasn't just the idea of a salad with a roast that attracted me (although it's the perfect way to enjoy a roast in summer) - the actual salad attracted me first, and the roast was a useful addition.

I urge you to try this recipe, even if you don't normally make roast. The salad is absolutely delicious on its own but it partners so well with the lamb - the soft cheese, toasted nuts and Dijon and balsamic dressing seem to pick up and highlight the crispiness of the lamb.

This recipe is another one in the "We Made It" challenge that Suzie from Munch+Nibble and I are conducting, where we aim to actually use our food magazines rather than just bookmarking them.

Shortcrust roast lamb with watercress and hazelnut salad

Recipe from December 2009/January 2010 delicious magazine

1 ficelle (half-baguette), thinly sliced
1 1/2 Tbs olive oil, plus extra to rub
1.5kg easy-carve leg of lamb
1 red onion, cut into thin wedges
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tb balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup (80ml) extra-virgin olive oil
1 bunch watercress, sprigs picked
150g soft goat's cheese, crumbled (I used marinated fetta and it was an excellent substitute)
75g hazelnuts, lightly toasted

Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Brush bread with oil, then bake for 15-20 minutes until crisp and golden. Remove and cool.

Increase oven to 190. Rub lamb with extra olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Roast lamb for 45 minutes, then add the onion to the pan and roast for a further 15 minutes. Remove lamb from the oven, cover loosely with foil and leave to rest for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk mustard with vinegar, then gradually whisk in the oil to make a dressing, and season with salt and pepper.

Place the watercress in a bowl and toss with half the dressing. Add the roast onion, croutons, cheese and nuts and toss together.

Carve the lamb, then divide among the plates. Serve with salad and remaining dressing on side.

We made it: buttermilk chicken

There's something incredibly tempting and moreish about fried chicken. We know it's not healthy for us, but a crispy fried chicken, lightly spiced, is a thing of beauty. But it should be home-made and as light and drained of fat as you can make it (and not resembling the chicken served up from corporate food chains).

Jill Dupleix's buttermilk fried chicken in the Dec/Jan issue of delicious magazine caught my eye for this reason. Her feature was about simple summer food, good for a picnic, and this dish looked just the ticket to be the next dish in the "We Made It" challenge that Suzie from Munch+Nibble and I are running in a quest to actually use our food magazines, rather than just bookmarking them. Suzie had also made this dish and raved about it, so I took the plunge and made it as well.

The end result was mixed. The buttermilk does tenderise the chicken and the baking does dry it out so that the fried crust is not too fatty. But perhaps I skimped on the spices a little (not wanting to scare the children) and Adam and I both found the end result a little bland. Next time I would add more spice - I think it perhaps loses some sizzle in the frying process.

Jill Dupleix's buttermilk fried chicken

Recipe from December 2009/January 2010 issue of delicious

4 chicken marylands
1 cup (250ml) buttermilk
1 3/4 cups (265g) plain flour
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
Sunflower oil, to shallow-fry

Cut the chicken marylands through the joint to separate the drumsticks and the thighs.

Wash the chicken pieces, then dry well with paper towel. Toss in buttermilk, cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Place the flour, cayenne, paprika, cumin and 1 tsp salt into a plastic bag (or zip-lock bag). Add drained chicken, 2 pieces at a time, shaking well to coat in the spice mixture. Remove and shake off any excess, then repeat with remaining chicken pieces until all coated.

Heat 1 cm oil in a large heavy-based fry-pan over medium-high heat to 180 degrees (a cube of bread will turn golden in 30 seconds when the oil is hot enough). Cook the chicken pieces, in batches of 4, for 4-5 minutes until well-browned. Turn and cook on the other side for 1 minute, until golden, then transfer chicken to the baking tray. Bake for 15 minutes or until cooked through, then remove and allow to cool. Serve at room temperature.

We made it: homemade crumpets with raspberries and lemon

There is something quintessentially English about crumpets. To me, they evoke images of lazy breakfasts in summer, taken at a little table on the terrace overlooking sweeping gardens brimming with the colours and scents of masses of flowers.

Of course, the supermarket variety aren't that glamorous and I'm more likely to eat them in winter slathered with melted butter and honey.

But Jamie Oliver's recipe for homemade cinnamon and lemon crumpets with raspberries and honey in the Dec/Jan issue of delicious magazine sounded heavenly and perfect for a summery morning, especially with berries from our recent berry picking expedition in the Otways.

I've made Bill Granger's homemade crumpets before, which are absolutely divine but a little fiddly, requiring a long proving time for the yeast to activate (not the thing you can whip up for a hungry tummy after a sleep in). The beauty of this Jamie Oliver version is that the yeast requires only 10 minutes and the crumpets can be cooked. The drawback is that they take up to 25 minutes to cook, so you might want to have several fry-pans on the go at once or you will be spending a long time at the stove while everyone else is tucking in! Aside from this minor qualification, these crumpets were delicious - heavier and more bun-like than the supermarket variety but more hearty and delicious because of that - and the honeyed ricotta and raspberries are a perfect combination - all the flavours of summer packed into one small dish.

This recipe is part of the "We Made It" challenge that Suzie from Munch+Nibble and I are giving ourselves: the challenge is to actually use our food magazines rather than just bookmarking them.

Jamie Oliver's homemade cinnamon and lemon crumpets with raspberries and honey

Recipe from December 2009/January 2010 issue of delicious

250g fresh ricotta
Zest of 1 lemon
2 Tbs honey, plus extra to drizzle
3 large handfuls fresh raspberries
Sunflower oil, to grease

Crumpets
500g strong (baker's) flour
1 tsp caster sugar
7g sachet dried instant yeast
A pinch of bicarb soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Place all the crumpet ingredients into a food processor with 2 tsp of salt. Pour in 600ml tepid water. The water needs to be warm enough to activate the yeast but not so hot that it kills it. Blitz all the crumpet ingredients together until you've got a loose batter. Leave to stand for 10 minutes to let the yeast develop. The mixture should be quite wet, just about dropping consistency.

While the yeast develops, make the topping by putting the ricotta, lemon zest and honey into a bowl and beating together until light and fluffy. Place half of the raspberries into another little bowl and mash up with a fork. Fold the mashed raspberries into the ricotta - don't be tempted to over-mix it, as you're looking for a beautiful pink rippled effect.

You may need to cook the crumpets in batches. First, grease the inside of metal crumpet rings (I used egg rings) with some sunflower oil. Place a non-stick fry-pan on medium heat, and put the rings into the pan. When it's nice and hot, spoon some mixture into each ring, to about 1cm deep. Turn the heat to low and leave for 15 minutes to cook through. Check the pan is not getting too hot and burning the bottom of the crumpets. After about 15 minutes - once the bubbles on top have formed into crumpet-like dimples - turn them over, using tongs to lift away the rings. Cook for another 5-10 minutes, until cooked right through.

Serve the crumpets with a generous spoonful of ricotta, an extra drizzle of honey and some lovely raspberries.

We made it: sweet chilli caramel sauce

This is my first "official" post in this month's We Made It challenge, a challenge that Suzie from Munch+Nibble and I set ourselves. Each month, we choose a food magazine and aim to cook as much out of it as possible, in the vain hope that we will become users of the magazine rather than just gazers.

This month's highlighted magazine is the December/January issue of delicious magazine, which is packed full of recipes to help celebrate the festive season and the summer holidays. I adore delicious magazine. I love the mix of easy and challenging recipes, some that are easy to whip up on a weeknight after work, and others that are more elegant and suitable for a dinner party. I don't think I've ever had a failure from a delicious recipe yet.

The first dish I cooked this month was a sublime Tobie Puttock recipe, maltagliata di pollo con limone (pan-fried chicken with lemon). It's a recipe that was a huge seller when he was an apprentice at Melbourne culinary institution Caffe e Cucina and I can see why. It is supremely easy to cook and tastes wonderful. It's a great dish for weeknights.

But I neglected to take a photo of that masterpiece, so the first "official" dish I have to present in the We Made It challenge is seared beef with sweet chilli caramel sauce. The mix of sweet chilli and caramel sounded intriguingly delicious to me and it was one of the first dishes I marked to try. Not having the audience for a 1kg beef fillet, I decided to improvise and use the sauce with seared steaks instead. I can report that this was a huge success. The sauce is very easy to make and extremely tasty. I made a half-serve and still had plenty left over to freeze for another night. This recipe is highly recommended.

Seared beef with sweet chilli caramel sauce

Recipe from delicious magazine, Dec 2009/Jan 2010 issue

Serves 4-6

1 1/2 cups (330g) caster sugar

2 long red chillies, deseeded, chopped

10cm piece ginger, chopped

4 garlic cloves

2 Asian (red) eschalots, chopped

2 coriander roots, chopped

1/4 cup (60ml) lime juice

1/2 cup (125ml) fish sauce

2 Tbs sesame oil

1kg whole beef fillet

2 Tbs olive oil

Micro herbs and edible flowers to serve (available from growers' markets)

Combine sugar and 1/4 cup (60ml) water in a pan over low heat, stirring to dissolve. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, without stirring, for 3-4 minutes until you have a golden caramel.

Meanwhile, whiz chilli, ginger, garlic, eschalots, coriander root and 1 cup (250ml) water in a food processor to form a coarse paste. Add paste to the caramel (be careful, as it may spit) and stir to combine. Cook, stirring for 2-3 minutes until smooth. Remove from the heat, then stir in lime juice, fish sauce and sesame oil. Cook to room temperature.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Season the beef fillet all over with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in an ovenproof frypan over medium-high heat. Sear the beef for 5-6 minutes, turning until seared on all sides. Transfer to the oven and roast for 15 minutes for medium-rare, or until your liking.

Remove the beef from oven, cover loosely with foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Thickly slice beef, then divide among plates. Pour over the sauce, then garnish with micro herbs and flowers.

Some homework

The magazine spotlight that Suzie from Munch+Nibble and I are shining in our We Made It challenge has moved this month from Gourmet Traveller to delicious magazine. But I am making a belated last effort to make a few more dishes from GT before I move onto delicious.

One of the first dishes that Suzie made from GT was the fried quail with cucumber and lettuce wedges in the "Gourmet Fast" section. Her description of the meal inspired me to try it myself. But I wasn't very organised and didn't have any quail on hand so decided to try the marinade with chicken to see how that would turn out.

I'm pleased to report that it was a success. The salty soy-based sauce was sweetened with caster sugar and spiced with star anise and ginger, with a citrus scent provided by orange rind. The salty/sweet mix was very pleasing on the palate and the lettuce and cucumber were the perfect off-set dishes. I think this dish would be better with crispy quail but the substitute chicken breasts also worked well, although they didn't crisp up as much as quail would.

I've given the original recipe below; I just substituted two chicken breasts for the four quail and halved the marinade ingredients.

This is probably the final dish I'll make from the December 2009 issue of Gourmet Traveller (although I do still have a few of the salads bookmarked...) I enjoyed the challenge of actually forcing myself to make dishes that I liked the look of, rather than just bookmarking them and then putting away the magazine. I don't think I cooked enough dishes this month to choose a favourite, although the dark berry trifle was an absolute winner and was worth the magazine price alone.

If you'd like to join in with our We Made It challenge, just drop Suzie or myself a line.

Fried quail with cucumber and lettuce wedges
Recipe from Gourmet Traveller, December 2009

4 jumbo quail, butterflied and halved lengthways
200ml light soy sauce
100ml chicken stock
40gm caster sugar
2 pieces orange rind, removed with a peeler
10gm (2cm piece) ginger, thinly sliced
1 star anise, coarsely crushed
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
1 tsp each Chinese five-spice and dried chilli flakes
1/4 iceberg lettuce, cut into thin wedges
1/2 telegraph cucumber, cut into 4cm batons
Lime wedges and coriander sprigs, to serve

Place quail in a single layer in a non-reactive dish and set aside. Combine soy sauce, stock, sugar, orange peel, ginger and star anise in a small saucepan, stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Cool, pour half over quail and set aside to marinate for 10 minutes. Return remaining mixture to heat and cook until syrupy (5-7 minutes), strain through a fine sieve into a heatproof bowl and set aside.

Meanwhile, preheat oil in a deep-fryer or deep-sided frying pan to 180 degrees. Combine five-spice, chilli and 2 Tb sea salt flakes in a small bowl and set aside. Drain quail (discard marinade) and pat dry with absorbent paper. Deep-fry in batches until golden and crisp (3-4 minutes). Toss through reduced marinade, season with five-spice salt and serve with lettuce, cucumber, lime and coriander.

The showstopper dessert

I admit that I bought the December 2009 issue of Gourmet Traveller based on the front-cover picture of dark berry trifle alone. A stunning mix of dark berry jelly, layered with sponge and creme fraiche, it beckoned like a siren from the newsstands.

Suzie from Munch+Nibble and I had set ourselves the We Made It challenge, where we select a food magazine each month and try to cook as many dishes from it as we can, rather than just bookmarking it and relegating it to the cupboard.

If it wasn't for the challenge, I think this trifle would have been one of the many recipes that I bookmark and then put away. We are big trifle fans in my household, but I've never attempted a trifle as elaborate as this. Fortunately, I had family to stay, a bottle of pink moscato donated by my father and dark berries in the freezer to use up, so these were also good incentives to make this dessert.

Before I talk about the recipe, I would like to state that this is quite simply one of the best dessert recipes I've ever made. It is the perfect showstopper dessert to bring to the table to show off the prettily coloured layers before you cut it up and serve. The seductive dark berry jelly mingles with the light-as-air sponge and the cream layers, all softly scented with vanilla and an alcoholic tinge.

As the recipe is for 15-20 people, it is the perfect party dish. As I didn't have that many people to serve, I halved the recipe with no problems. It still makes a very large dessert and if you have a small household, you'll be eating this for days.

Some notes on the recipe: I didn't have creme de mure or creme de cassis, so I substituted brandy and a tawny port. I'm sure the special blackberry liqueurs give it an extra dimension, but I found that the brandy and port provided a hint of alcohol, which I presumed was all that was needed. I also substituted whipped cream as I didn't have access to creme fraiche. I didn't need the milk to thin the cream but I did include the lemon rind and icing sugar to flavour it.

I made my sponge in a 20cm round cake tin and was lucky enough to have a glass bowl in which the sponge round fitted perfectly, so I didn't need to do any trimming of the sponge to make it fit. I'm not sure how a square cake, which is specified by the recipe, would work, but the layers should meld together anyway.

And please take note of the infusing and setting time - although each individual step is easy, it will take you all afternoon to make this dessert, once you allow for this time. The trifle should also sit overnight in the fridge so that the flavours can mingle and settle.

But these are all minor qualifications. Make this trifle: you won't be sorry!

Dark berry trifle

Recipe from Gourmet Traveller, December 2009

Serves 15-20

1.5kg blackberries or mulberries, plus extra to serve

300gm caster sugar

2 vanilla beans, split and seeds scraped

10 gelatine leaves (titanium strength), softened in cold water for 5 minutes

300ml pink moscato

Juice of 1 lemon

330ml creme de mure (or substitute creme de cassis)

1.25kg creme fraiche

150ml milk, or enough to thin

Finely grated rind of 2 lemons

40gm pure icing sugar, sifted

Sponge

8 eggs, at room temperature

250gm raw caster sugar

250gm plain flour, sieved

50gm butter, melted and cooled

For sponge, preheat oven to 175 degrees. Whisk eggs and sugar in an electric mixer until tripled in volume (7 minutes). Fold through flour in batches, fold in butter, pour into a 28cm-square cake tin lined with baking paper. Bake until golden and centre springs back when pressed (20-25 minutes). Cool in tin, turn out, halve sponge horizontally, trim each half to fit a 6-litre capacity glass bowl, then remove from bowl and set aside, reserving trimmings.

Meanwhile, combine 1kg berries, sugar, 1 vanilla bean and seeds and 1.1 litres water in a large saucepan, simmer over low heat until infused (50 minutes). Strain through a fine sieve (discard solids), transfer 1 litre hot liquid to a bowl (reserve remainder). Squeeze excess water from gelatine leaves, add to bowl, stir to dissolve. Add moscato, lemon juice and 80ml creme de mure. Strain half into trifle bowl, scatter over 250gm berries and refrigerate until set (2 to 2 1/2 hours). Chill remaining berry jelly, removing from refrigerator if it starts to set.

Reduce 250ml remaining liquid (discard excess) over high heat to 50ml or until syrupy (10-15 minutes). Refrigerate until required.

Meanwhile, combine creme fraiche, milk, lemon rind, icing sugar and remaining vanilla seeds in a bowl, adding extra milk if necessary until spreadable. Spread one-third over set jelly, top with a sponge round, fill any gaps with trimmings, drizzle with 125ml creme de mure. Scatter over remaining berries, pour over remaining jelly (mixture should be starting to set) [my note - make sure the jelly is starting to set and is not liquidy or it will simply soak through the sponge, rather than sitting on top].

Refrigerate until set (2 to 2 1/2 hours). Top with half the remaining creme fraiche mixture, then remaining sponge. Drizzle with remaining creme de mure, top with remaining creme fraiche mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Serve scattered with extra berries and drizzled with blackberry syrup.

A simple little salad

After the feast that was Christmas, simple meals are on the menu for us now. Given the hot weather we've been having, salads are just the ticket. While there's always a place on my table for a basic little green salad, I also like salads with some more interesting ingredients, or those that could double as a light meal with some bread or grilled fish or chicken on the side.

Fortunately, the December 2009 issue of Gourmet Traveller, which is the magazine that Suzie from Munch+Nibble and I are focusing on in our We Made It challenge this month (where we select a current food magazine and try to cook as much as we can from that one issue) has come to my rescue, with a whole feature, "Dressed for Success", on salads.

From the delicious spread available, I chose to make the carrot and barley salad with dates and raisins. The beauty of this salad is that most of the ingredients are readily to hand (or easily obtainable, although it's always nice to be able to throw something together without having to make a special trip to the shops). As well as being an interesting mix of sweet and savoury, this salad is a cinch to put together and can be served as either a light meal or a side dish. It would also be a good addition to a salad buffet.

Although the recipe specifies that the coriander and cumin seeds should be dry-roasted and then pounded in a mortar and pestle, I took the lazy option and just used ground spices for this salad. Although the flavour is not as intense, it did cut down on cooking tasks and time.

Carrot and barley salad with dates and raisins

Recipe from Gourmet Traveller, December 2009

300gm pearl barley

1 tsp each coriander and cumin seeds, dry-roasted and coarsely pounded in a mortar and pestle

3 carrots, coarsely grated

40gm pine nuts, toasted

40gm golden raisins, soaked in warm water for 5 minutes, drained

3 dates, pitted, cut into slivers

1/2 tsp sweet paprika

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 bunch coriander, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup (firmly packed) flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

1 tsp red wine vinegar

2 Tb extra-virgin olive oil

Cook barley in boiling salted water until tender (20-30 minutes). Drain, transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, combine spices with remaining ingredients in a bowl, toss to combine. Add barley, season to taste, toss to combine, serve.

A Christmas Day lunch

There's nothing more satisfying - or necessary - than sitting down with a soothing cup of peppermint tea and putting up your feet after hosting a successful Christmas Day lunch. The food has been devoured, the dishes washed and put away, the wrapping paper tidied up and presents sorted. In my case, I have a lovely stack of glossy new cookbooks to add to my pile. I can't wait to start cooking from them.


We hosted 16 people at our Christmas Day lunch but it was nowhere near as daunting as that sounds. Everyone was delegated to bring something: drinks, nibblies, a salad or two, dessert etc. As hostess, I was providing the ham and the turkey and lots of salad bowls and white platters for presentation.

My family likes a traditional Christmas lunch (by that, I mean the Anglo traditional lunch, with ham, turkey and plum pudding) but we are happy to add our own twists and interpretations. None of us are huge fans of a whole cooked turkey and I didn't want to spend Christmas morning trapped in the kitchen with a hot stove. So I ordered a turkey breast roll from my excellent local butcher (much faster to cook, with lots less angsty) and found a recipe for roast herbed turkey roll in the December 2009 issue of Gourmet Traveller (a magazine that Suzie from Munch+Nibble and I are focusing on this month in the We Made This challenge, where we aim to cook as much as we can from a selected magazine each month).

This is a lovely recipe - very stress-free for Christmas Day, with an excellent end result that belies the minimal effort involved. Combined with ham, roast chicken, a vast array of salads (including seafood, sweet potato, green salad, roast potatoes and a beetroot, walnut and feta salad) and several bottles of Seppelts Sparkling Shiraz, this dish was part of our stunning Christmas feast that satisfied all and meant groaning stomachs could barely accommodate dessert, let alone tea that night.






Roast herbed turkey roll with Meyer lemon mayonnaise

Recipe from the December 2009 issue of Gourmet Traveller

1 turkey breast (about 1.4kg), skin on (note - my turkey breast was 2kg and I did not adjust the recipe but this portion was adequate)
1 cup (loosely packed) each basil, flat-leaf parsley and mint, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Finely grated rind of 1 Meyer lemon (Meyer lemons are slightly sweeter than regular lemons, but it is fine to substitute if you can't find Meyers)
60ml extra-virgin olive oil

Meyer lemon mayonnaise
1 egg yolk
25ml Meyer lemon juice
2 tsp Dijon mustard
150ml light olive oil
Finely grated rind of 2 Meyer lemons

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Place turkey breast skin-side down on a work surface and make an incision lengthways along the thickest part of the breast to butterfly. Open flat and season to taste.

Combine herbs, garlic, rind and half the olive oil in a small bowl, season to taste and spread evenly over turkey. Roll into a long cylinder, tucking ends under, then tie securely at intervals with kitchen twine./

Place turkey on a wire rack in a roasting tray, drizzle with remaining oil, season to taste and roast, basting occasionally, until golden and juices run clear when pierced with a skewer (1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes - longer if your turkey breast is larger). Remove from oven, cover loosely with foil and rest for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, for Meyer lemon mayonnaise, combine yolk, juice and mustard in a small bowl, whisk to combine, then add oil in a thin, continuous stream, whisking continuously until incorporated. Add rind, season to taste and set aside.

Serve sliced turkey with mayonnaise to the side.

A spicy side of Christmas

Heady spice mixtures and plump dried fruit feature heavily in Christmas baking. Many of the traditional dishes we've inherited from England, such as Christmas cakes, fruit mince tarts and plum puddings, are chock-full of these ingredients. But other nations have similar traditions: the spicy Dutch speculaas biscuits and golden fruit-studded panettone or panforte, a spicy mix of glace fruit and nuts, from Italy, for example.

For many years I've made a chocolate panforte at Christmas. No matter how full we are, everyone always finds a small hole in their stomach when the plate of panforte, dusted with icing sugar, comes out with coffee. In last year's Christmas issue of Gourmet Traveller, I found a recipe for panpepato, which is very similar to panforte. With a newborn in the house last Christmas, there was no time to make the panpepato but it was one of the first things on my list for this year (as this recipe came from the December 2008 issue, it doesn't strictly fit into the We Made This challenge that Suzie from Munch+Nibble and I are doing, but I'm including it anyway, as I haven't had a chance to cook as much from this year's edition as I'd hoped!)

According to Gourmet Traveller, panpepato is a Christmas specialty from the Siena region of Italy. It is similar to panforte but is spiced up with black pepper and cocoa or chocolate. "The hsitory of panforte and panpepato are intertwined and it's difficult to distinguish which came first and what their true provenance is," Emma Knowles wrote in her article on panpepato. "Legend has it that panpepato possessed powerful aphrodisiac qualities and also had the ability to stop husbands and wives from fighting, both of which are great reasons to whip up a batch yourself."

Panpepato is easy to make, although you will need a sugar thermometer and some confidence in cooking a soft caramel. The mixing stage needs to be done very quickly or you end up with a big, gluggy, unusable mess on your hands.

The recipe specifies that the panpepato should be baked in five 10cm-diameter springform pans. I made mine in a 20cm springform pan, as I don't have the smaller pans, and adjusted the cooking time slightly. The end result was fine but I do think the smaller versions would work very well if you wanted to give these away as gifts. Panpepato would make a wonderful gift for your friends: this is a wonderful cake, like a sexy older sister version of panforte. The dark cocoa gives it a luxurious element, while the spicy aftertaste of peppercorns lingers teasingly on the palate. This is a dish that I will definitely be making again.

Panpepato

Recipe from Gourmet Traveller, December 2008 (available on the GT website)

2 sheets of confectioner's rice paper
50gm plain flour
40gm Dutch-process cocoa
1 Tb ground mixed spice
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp coarsely crushed pink peppercorns
200gm candied orange, coarsely chopped
80gm almonds, roasted
80gm each walnuts and hazelnuts, roasted and peeled
150gm caster sugar
150g honey
Pure icing sugar, to dust

Preheat oven to 150 degrees. Lightly grease five 10-cm diameter springform pans, line bases with baking paper and then rice paper, trimming to fit. Sift flour and cocoa into a bowl, add spices, orange and nuts and toss to coat well in the flour mixture.

Heat caster sugar, honey and 2 Tb water in saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Do not stir again, as mixture may crystallise. Bring to the boil and cook until mixture reaches 120 degrees on a sugar thermometer (soft ball stage). Working quickly with a lightly oiled spoon, pour caramel over nut mixture, mixing well. Spoon into prepared pans and smooth tops with an oiled spatula. Bake for 10-15 minutes (time it carefully because this cake will not firm up or colour as it cooks). Cool completely in pans, turn out, then dust liberally with icing sugar. Serve cut into wedges (note that this cake is rich and a little will go a long way).

Panpepato will keep, wrapped in baking paper, and then plastic wrap in an airtight container in a cool place, for up to one month. To present as a gift, wrap panpepato in baking paper before wrapping as desire.

We made it: Speculaas

Suzie from Munch+Nibble and I are taking part in the "We made it" project, where we choose a food magazine each month and cook as much as we can from it. It's an attempt to actually use the magazines we subscribe to, rather than just bookmarking them.

This month's magazine is Gourmet Traveller and the first dish I made was from the "Classic Dish" section: speculaas. This is a thin and crispy spiced biscuit from Europe. According to GT writer Emma Knowles, the Dutch and German versions of speculaas are heavily spiced, with cardamom and ground white pepper added to the mix. Emma also added star anise and mace to her interpretation.

I have a simplified speculaas recipe from Miranda Sharp that appeared in Epicure a few years ago and it makes a very moreish biscuit. But the spice mix in this GT version sounded more robust and interesting, with cardamom, cloves, star anise, white peppercorns, mace, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg all featuring. Rather than using ground spices, you grind up the cardamom, cloves, star anise, peppercorns and mace yourself. I made it the old-fashioned way, using a mortar and pestle, and it does produce an intense spice mix with an almost medicinal smell. However, letting the dough rest overnight softens the harsh edges of the strong spices and mellows them into an aromatic biscuit. The aroma while baking is heavenly. As Emma notes, it's a good thing that the recipe makes a lot of biscuits, as it is almost impossible to stop at just one.

The verdict: An intense, addictive biscuit that would find favour at any time of year but is particularly welcome at this time of year; aromatic spices feature heavily in Christmas baking. While this is an easy biscuit to make, it does involve some labour and you need to allow time for the dough to rest (at least eight hours, but preferably overnight), as well as chilling the cut biscuits before making them. So while I thoroughly enjoyed this biscuit, it is not something you can whip up in a hurry. My simplified speculaas recipe is better if you're in a hurry; but the intense spices in this version make it a winner.

Speculaas

Recipe by Emma Knowles, p 38, Gourmet Traveller, December 2009

500g plain flour, sieved

2 tsp baking powder

220g butter, softened

250g dark brown sugar

2 Tb milk

Speculaas spice

8 green cardamom pods

8 cloves

5 star anise

1 tsp white peppercorns

1 piece of mace

2 Tb ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp finely grated nutmeg

1. For speculaas spice, finely grind cardamom, cloves, star anise, peppercorns and mace in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Transfer to a large bowl, add cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, stir, add to flour and baking powder and set aside.

2. Beat butter, sugar and a pinch of salt in an electric mixer until creamy (3-4 minutes). Add milk, beat to combine, then add flour mixture and mix until just combined. Form mixture into a dough with your hands on a word surface (add extra milk if the mixture is too dry), shape into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate to rest (eight hours to overnight).

3. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Roll pastry on a lightly floured surface to 5mm thick, then refrigerate until firm (30 minutes). Cut into desired shapes and place on trays lined with baking paper. Chill until firm (20 minutes), then bake in batches until light brown and crisp (10-12 minutes). Cool for 5 minutes on trays, then transfer to wire racks and cool completely. Speculaas will keep, stored in an airtight container, for 1 week.

We made it: Gourmet Traveller

Addict: devote, apply habitually or compulsively (to a practice); person addicted to a habit.

My name is Melinda and I'm addicted to food porn. My books are pushed aside to make way for more glossy cookbooks, out-of-season food magazines are stored in boxes in the cupboard until their seasonal time arrives, and I have storage boxes stuffed full of recipes clipped from magazines and newspapers. I want to organise them and file them but every time I pull out the box to do so, I get side-tracked by hypothetically conjuring up the dishes until I've run out of time. The clippings are piled back into the box and put away until the next time.

Thankfully, I'm not alone in my addiction. My friend and fellow blogger Suzie from Munch+Nibble is a fellow food porn addict - and possibly even more addicted than me! Whenever Suzie has spare time on her hands, she dives into a newsagent for another hit.

Several months ago, I surprised myself by cooking at least 10 dishes out of that month's issue of Gourmet Traveller. Suzie was suitably impressed, as we both tend to drool over each issue, bookmark dozens of recipes, and then file away the magazine without actually making anything. We have now set ourselves the challenge of picking a different magazine each month and try to cook, review and post as much as possible from that magazine in that month. Hopefully our pristine copies will soon be covered with the splotches and splatters of use in the kitchen.

If anyone else would like to join in with our "We made it" project, you are more than welcome - just drop a comment to either Suzie or me.

So, for our inaugural "We made it", we have chosen the December 2009 issue of Gourmet Traveller. This magazine is a favourite of mine: it is beautifully written, photographed and edited. I believe that Australian food magazines are among the best in the world, especially in the way the food is photographed and presented.

Gourmet Traveller has several regular columns that I really enjoy: Fare Exchange, where readers can write in and seek recipes of favourite dishes from chefs around Australia; Classic Dish, where a classic dish is featured, including its history and a recipe to try; Perfect Match, a wine and food match dish, and In Season.

A stunning trifle, glossy dark berries perched on top of a custard and sponge base, is the enticing cover photo of this month's issue. Inside is lots of inspiration for Christmas, with some old favourites given a modern twist, and Sydney star pastry chef Adrian Zumbo providing some zany Christmas dishes to make.

If you would like to join in the fun of cooking from Gourmet Traveller this month, leave me a comment, and make sure you go and visit Suzie at Munch+Nibble to see what amazing dishes she is whipping up. Check back regularly this month, as we plan to post throughout December about the different dishes we're trying.

If you are unable to buy Gourmet Traveller, you will find many of the recipes from each month's issue featured on its excellent website: http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/