Sunday, 28 February 2010

February Meal: Salmon and Salsa

Eek! Just sneaking in before the month is up.
We (mum and I) started with the intention of doing each month's "meal" on the first of each month, but that quickly has to give way to a more realistic schedule.
I cooked this up a couple of weeks ago, around mid-February, but am only now getting around to posting about it, shame on me!

February Meal: Salmon and Salsa

There's no ingredients over-view shot this year since it's so simple to put together, also most of the ingredients this year came right from my garden and so mostly I was picking and chopping as I went along ;)

The first step of this is to char-grill your capsicum! This is very easy to do. You just put your capsicums onto a tray and put them under your grill just until the skin has become charred.

February Meal: Salmon and SalsaFebruary Meal: Salmon and Salsa

Then pop those suckers into a zip-lock baggie for twenty minutes or so and the skin will peel right off without any effort.

February Meal: Salmon and SalsaFebruary Meal: Salmon and Salsa

Then you mix together the rest of the salsa.. dicing up those capsicums, tomatos... adding in herbs, lemon juice and brown sugar...

February Meal: Salmon and Salsa

February Meal: Salmon and Salsa

Then let all that sit for an hour or so for all the flavours to mellow and come together. Beautiful!

February Meal: Salmon and Salsa

When you're ready to eat, heat up a grill pan and grill your fish.

February Meal: Salmon and Salsa

I have to admit that even after living here for two years and all the fantastic fish available from the area, salmon is still one of my favourites. Every now and again I get some pretty strong cravings for wild Atlantic salmon... Down here though, the farmed Tasmanian variety will have to do.

Once they're all done plate up with a simple salad and you're ready to eat!

February Meal: Salmon and Salsa

Recipe for Grilled Salmon Cutlets with Roasted Capsicum & Coriander Salsa
Serves: 6 (I cut the recipe in half since it's just mum and I eating)

Ingredients:
* 6 Atlantic salmon cutlets
* 1 tablespoon olive oil

Salsa:
* 3 large red capsicums, quartered and seeded.
* 3 spring onions, finely chopped
* 1 large ripe tomato, seeded and diced
* 1/3 cup finely chopped chives
* 1/4 cup coriander, finely chopped
* 1 1/2-2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
* 1/2 teaspoon soft brown sugar
* sea salt and pepper to taste

Preheat grill and cook the capsicum quarters, skin side up, until well charred. Place into a plastic bag and seal tightly- after about 20 minutes, skin can be easily removed.

Cut the capsicum finely and place into a bowl to cool. Mix with all remaining ingredients. Set aside for an hour or two to let flavours mellow.

At serving time, preheat grill. Brush both sides of the cutlets with the olive oil. Cook cutlets three to four minutes each side or until cooked through.

Serve immediately with capsicum salsa spooned over the top.
ENJOY!

This dish was a particular joy for me since the tomatos, chives, coriander and lettuce in the salad all came from my garden. It was delicious.

Saturday, 27 February 2010

Colour + Colour: Red and Silver

I missed a week or two in the colour + colour group from my vacation, but pick it back up with the past weeks challenge of Red + Silver.

Colour + Colour Week 7: Red and Silver

Colour + Colour Week 7: Red and Silver

The current challenge is Silver + Green!

Christmas Gift Catch-up: Purses for Nieces!

Phew! I'm back from my whirlwind vacation. I spent the past few weeks showing off my beautiful NSW country to an American buddy of mine, and then preparing to begin a course on Horticulture(!).
In the meantime though, I'm still catching up from a huge back-log of knit things to share with you all.
I'll start with the oldest for now.

For my two nieces, this year, I made them each a little knit purse of their own.

Christmas 2009: Purses for the Nieces



The pattern was very basic, and I just kind of made it up as I went along. I started off with a knit rectangle of fabric.

Christmas 2009: Purses for the Nieces

Christmas 2009: Purses for the Nieces

And then decreased down to a triangular clasp with a contrasting colour of yarn.

Christmas 2009: Purses for the Nieces

I sewed the sides together to make it a pouch and then knit an i-chord for the strap.
Easy Peasy!

For some extra fun and stability I decided to have a go at lining the purses with some cotton fabric.

Christmas 2009: Purses for the Nieces

And finished them off with a large, brightly coloured button for a clasp!

Christmas 2009: Purses for the Nieces

Christmas 2009: Purses for the Nieces

Done! The hardest part, honestly was figuring out which colour to give to which girl. It may have taken a day, tops, to make each purse.

Christmas 2009: Purses for the Nieces

Tuesday, 2 February 2010

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

My world for the past few days has been a whole lot of:

Rain

But for once I have enjoyed every minute of it; the tank is filling, my plants are happy...

Happy Plants

My froggy friend is happy and loud and even some other, surprise-friends are happy...

Garden Snail

I'm all packed up and very excited for my trip down to Sydney. The next two weeks are going to be one hell of an adventure, and that's exactly what I need right now!
I can't wait to tell you all about it when I get back.