Boquerones are Spanish styled marinated white anchovy fillets which are a lot less pungent than regular anchovy with a citrus, vinegared taste. Serve on a fresh red endive leaf, with half a grape tomato, baby basil, and a paper thin slice of garlic and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. Season with sea salt and black pepper.

Fresh prociutto san daniele with figs – my absolute favorite

I recently got foxtel (cable tv), and even with 200 extra channels, I am still only totalling about 2 hours of TV a week, and that’s me forcing myself to watch tv… because I’m paying for it! I do however, really like the background music in the digital TV guide channel. I know, I’m insane.

New Style Salmon
Serves 4-5

8 – 12 ounces sashimi (Atlantic Salmon)
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
Fresh gingerroot, julienned
Chilli, thinly sliced
Shallots, very thinly sliced
12 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 Tablespoons sesame oil
4 Tablespoons soy sauce
4 Tablespoons yuzu juice (may substitute with lemon juice)
2 Tablespoons white sesame seeds

Cut the fish fillet into paper-thin slices. Arrange on platter. Scatter some of the minced garlic and some of the ginger and scallion julienne over the fish; sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Sprinkle on the soy sauce and yuzu juice.

Combine the olive oil and sesame oil in a nonreactive small saucepan. Set over moderately high heat and bring almost to a boil (about 200°); the surface will shimmer. Remove from the heat and immediately pour one-fourth of the sauce over each serving of fish. The hot oil will sear the fish as you pour it on. Serve at once.

Wines matched for the evening:
Duval-Leroy Brut Vintage 1996 – a beautiful champagne
Domaine Lucien et Andre Brunel 2003 Shiraz – with the veal

Fennel with capers and anchovies

2large fennel bulbs, green tops intact
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 anchovies
Handful of breadcrumbs, not too fine
Freshly cracked pepper
1/2 tbsp capers, rinsed well and patted dry
30g pecorino or parmesan cheese, shaved
1/4 cup young flat-leaf parsley
Salt and pepper

Trimfennel bulbs by discarding tough, external layers. Keep tender fronds fromheads and soak in cold water. Wash bulbs well and cut into thin slices top tobottom. Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and plunge in fennelslices. Blanch for 2 minutes until tender. Drain and set aside to cool.Meanwhile, heat olive oil gently in a saucepan and add anchovies, stirringuntil dissolved. Add breadcrumbs and a pinch of pepper. Stir for a minute, adddrained fennel slices and mix well. Take from heat and add capers, fennel tops,cheese and parsley. Season with salt and pepper, mix well and transfer to aserving plate. Serves 4

NB: I added microherbs into the mix – and also a handful of unblanched (and thinly diced – on the younger parts of the bulb) fennel for more texture.

Twice-cooked veal shanks withmushrooms and sage

2large veal shanks, trimmed of external fat
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
1 stick celery, roughly chopped
200g button mushrooms
2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and cut into chunks
50g butter
150ml cream
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
100g grated parmesan
Big handful fresh sage leaves
Salt and pepper

Placethe veal shanks in a stockpot with the onion, carrot and celery. Cover withwater and bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer and keep simmering for 90-120 minutes until the meat is tender. Remove from the heat and cool theshanks in the liquid. Once cooled, drain liquid into a saucepan, removing anyfat on the surface, and discard vegetables. Turn the heat to high and reducethe liquid to about 400ml. Remove meat from shanks and cut into bite-sizedpieces (pic1). Fry mushrooms, onion, garlic in the butter until they have softened.Add the reduced stock and cream and simmer for 2 minutes (pic2). Pour the mushroommixture into an oven dish (pic3), with the meat scattered evenly throughout. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs, parmesan and sage on top (pic4) and bake at 170C for an hour (pic 5)
Serves 6.

The process:

Oh yes – that’s crumbed BONE MARROW! Dedicated to Derpderp and Bellisa. Oh it was sooo good.

I have to say, this is probably one of the best recipes ever! The prep time + cook time will take up half your Sunday (but I enjoy it!)

A perfect location for a lazy weekend lunch – we sat at one of the outdoor tables under the warm sun on a winter day, with a bottle of Spanish grenacha rose. The lunch tapas menu gives you an option to share small plates with friends, either for a quick snack or a long lunch. We opt for the latter.

Rumour has it that the owners of Delicado have strong connections with the Spanish consulate, which helps them import and sell beautiful Spanish products such as signature cured hams Jamon Iberico de Bellota y Jamon Serrano; fresh marinated white anchovies (boquerones) & dried salted cod (bacalau); Ortiz and Entreislas anchovies (anchoas); ventresca white tuna (atun) and quince paste (membrillo); not to mention a wide selection of wine.

Spanish Olives: varieties incl. Arbequina, hojiblanca, sevilano, manzanilla $8

Pimenton cured Ocean Trout, marinated belly, goats cheese, avruga caviar $16

Seared Scallops, morcilla, roasted jerusalem artichoke $18

Jamon Serrano, La Jabuguena Gran Res., arbequina extra virgin olive oil $15

Confit Pork Belly, spanish onion puree, maize crusted squid, green olive $20

Yes, this dish was cured in duck fat for 24 hours. Please don’t lecture me – I only had a small half… and it was worth it! The crackling was dry and crisp on top of the soft warm pork belly The squid was perfectly dusted with the right amount of maize and it was probably the most tender fleshed squid I’ve had – there was no chewiness to it like the usual squid, it almost melts in your mouth.

Churros con chocolate, dulce de leche $12

Arbequina olive oil ice cream $10

I really quite liked the olive oil ice cream too – it’s florally fragrant but very creamy, and garnished with a small amount of salt and dried tapenade.

Such a cute wine store – we bought a few more bottles of the Grenacha rose for home.

Warm Salad of Asparagus, Oyster mushrooms with ‘Zucchini chips’

Ingredients:
Baby roma tomatos: half lightly grilled in oven, other half thinly sliced, for a combination of sweetness and texture
Young asparagus (fresh from the grower’s markets) cooked with olive oil and and a drizzle of aged balsamic
Oyster mushrooms, shredded, wok tossed in rice bran oil, mirin and seasame oil
Zucchini ‘chips’: lay flat on baking paper, rubbed with sea salt and brush with extra virgin olive oil. Grill in fan forced oven for 5 minutes and allow to rest until crispy
2 organic eggs, over easy with a liquid yolk.
Carrot – Julienned
Baby salad leaves with Japanese wafu goma dressing.

Oyster mushrooms can be replaced with Chicken
The crispy zucchini chips really added to the charm of the texture. The soft running yolk complemented the asparagus (shame I didn’t have any truffles). The oven grilled tomatos exploded with juice upon bite while the raw tomatos were cool and fresh against the salad leaves. Oyster mushrooms are a great alternative for vegetarians as its texture is a quite similar to meat… in a ’stringy’ nature.

Voila, Lunch!
Our checklist: low carb, low calorie, wheat free, gluten free, diary free, vegetarian – most of all, edible AND enjoyable!

A low fat, low carb meal that tastes so good, for only around 500 calories! Great for serving guests as a sharing plate, because prep time is under 10 minutes.

2/5 pack of Haloumi cheese, sliced in .5cm thickness
100ml organic tomato puree (the chunky kind)
dried oregano
1 clove garlic, grated
1 piece of pancetta

Ronny’s haloumi (garlic reduced to please your loverrrr)

In a small saucepan, add extra virgin olive oil, half of the grated garlic, pancetta and cook til brown. Add tomato puree and dried oregano, simmer until reduced. Season with salt, pepper and a hint of chilli oil. Set aside.
Pan fry haloumi until both sides are golden brown with EVO and the rest of the garlic.
Top with tomato sauce, garnish with basil leaf, serve immediately. ( I removed the pancetta after cooking to reduce calorie count, but you are most welcomed to eat it!)

Mountain bread chips with hommus dip

Cut Mountain bread rice wraps into small triangles, place under grill in oven for 2 minutes. They become crispy chips, which you can serve with hommus dressed with paprika powder and EVO.

Drinks to compliment? Bloody Marys!