The two week birthday celebration with a boeuf bourginon finale

<---- Chocolate Guinness cupcakes with marshmallow "head" (Nigella recipe)

Where to begin?  Almost two weeks ago I turned 33; since then it's been a series of highs and lows.  High:  a long anticipated night with my husband in Arthur's Seat at an amazing B&B with views over Melbourne.  Low:  aforementioned husband coming down with food-poisoning an hour after arrival at the B&B, which lasted five days.  High:  friends, food and cocktails around an outdoor fire with perfect weather on a Saturday evening.  Low:  learning about some dodgy U.S. food practices via the movie "Food Inc.", leading to general household paranoia about the food we buy, source, eat (but on further reflection, this is probably a good thing). 

Rather than post up two weeks worth of recipes, here are some highlights and pictures, let me know if you'd like any recipes and I'll post it up:

Sitting around the fire while our neighbour Greg tries to coax one of the local, very fat, possums down from a nearby tree with a banana (he was later successful, at a cost of one inadvertently gnawed finger).

A lovely Sunday evening spent with hubby and our friend K; citrus glazed poached chicken resting on a bed of steamed beans and butter-roasted fennel.

One lazy Sunday morning, I threw together a damper loaf using ginger beer - very crumbly and crunchy outside crust; lovely and soft inside.

Today started with some fresh organic leeks pulled from the garden...

...and ended with a lovely, rich, boeuf bourginon (recipe below).

I made this lovely garlic and rosemary studded foccacia to mop up the bourginon gravy, which complimented the garlic and rosemary flavours in the stew.

Boeuf bourginon using mum's relish:

1 kg diced steak (you can use a cheaper cut - the cooking time will ensure it becomes soft)

two smashed garlic gloves

three leeks, washed and sliced (white only)

four medium carrots, chopped into big chunks

7 chat potatoes, halved (unpeeled)

handful of large sized button mushrooms, quartered

olive oil

one cup red wine

a jar of random relish or chutney from your pantry - I used one of my mum's many contributions, a sweet plum relish (you could buy one from the supermarket or local farmer's market if you don't have any)

2 cups beef stock

salt and pepper

plain flour

3 tsp cornflour mixed with water to make it a paste

two stalks rosemary

Method:

Coat the beef in flour seasoned with salt and pepper, brown it in a heavy bottomed casserole dish with a splash of olive oil and set aside.  Saute leeks, then add beef and all other ingredients back into the pan.  Put the lid on and place it into a 160C oven for 1 & 1/2 hours.  Take it out and give it a stir, add the mushrooms and the cornflour mix, then put back in the oven for a further 20 mins.

Best friends and baking

In theory, my bestie V and I should make better enemies than mates. She loves Harry Potter; I prefer obscure arthouse movies with subtitles. V is outgoing and happily chats to strangers; whereas I'm more on the I(ntroverted) side of things. She is a naturally beautiful, latte-skinned Indian goddess who never wears make-up, not even on her wedding day (bitch!); I regularly spend a small fortune on beauty treatments and pampering for my pale, sensitive, scandanavian skin (the last time I turned up to work without foundation, I received concerned looks from colleagues who said "are you okay? You look ... unwell").

We're very different, V and I, in many ways. But we do agree on the important stuff. We hate shopping for the sake of it. We believe strongly in friendhsip, family and community. We share a passion for all things involving cheese. And, we love cooking.

Enjoying my first of two weeks leave and with V on school holidays, we agreed to spend a day together, cooking up hearty, healthy food with some of this season's early fresh produce.

White bean soup with tapenade and olive beer bread

Soup: 400 grams cannellini beans soaked overnight, then simmered in a pot for an hour with 2 litres vege stock, sauteed onion and celery, bay leaves, dried oregano then pureed and seasoned with lemon rind, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil once cooked.

bread: 1 1/4 cups each plain and SR flour mixed with 2 cups mixed pitted olives, 2 tbs olive oil, few chipped spring onions, 250ml beer (I went with a lovely James Squire pilsener), 1 tbs sugar - knead for a few mins and press into a pan, let it rise for 10 mins then bake in a 180C oven for 25 mins.

olive tapenade: Mix a few handfuls of mixed pitted & chopped olives with a chopped red chilli, splash of olive oil, 1/4 cup of fresh chopped oregano leaves, and the rind and juice of one lemon. Serve with cannellini bean soup and olive bread.

Autumn vegetable stew with herb dumplings

A selection of large chopped autumn vegetables simmered in just enough vegie stock to cover, along with a few bay leaves, ground ginger, cinnamon stick, garlic, and a teaspoon of flour to thicken. Dumplings were made using flour, grated cold butter, and enough water to bring together to a dough. Knead and roll into balls before dropping into simmering stew, simmer for approx 20 minutes or until all vegetables and dumplings are cooked through.

Olive marinaded roast chicken and mashed potato

Two small sized organic chickens were placed side by side in a roasting dish, after being marinaded in a mix of finely chopped kalamata olives, anchovies, lemon juice and rind, olive oil, fresh and dried oregano (pulse marinade ingredients in food processor to bring together and rub over chicken). Roasted in a 200C oven for 1 1/4 hours (turn once to redistribute juices and keep moist) - cover in foil for first 50 minutes of cooking. Potatoes were boiled and mashed roughly with some butter and milk, seasoned with a little pepper.