Recipes | Finding Feasts

Nutella Puff Pastry Rolls

FinSki's Nutella Pastry Roll 1 — Click on image for recipe

Good coma! That is the only way that I can describe how I felt last night so making nutella puff pastry rolls was the last thing on my mind.

My day started yesterday with a lovely cup of my favourite Roobios and Vanilla bean tea which was enjoyed with a chocolate croissant. I really should have stopped there but three hours later it was out for lunch with work for our annual team birthday lunch at Jagos on Miller. Instead of celebrating a birthday a month, or in some cases a few birthdays in a week we take ourselves out once a year and celebrate everyone’s birthdays at the same time.

Jagos on Miller is a lovely little cafe/restaurant which does good basic meals. Their menu doesn’t really change much but why fix something when it’s not broken right? The service is quick and friendly, perfect for a work lunch, especially when you have to go back to the office. I had fish cakes with asian herb salad and sweet chilli sauce. A very substantial dish composed of two fish patties. I was adamant that it would end there but nope, the whole team was having desserts and as much as my tummy was saying no the left side of the brain took over. As soon as the waitress asked me to take my order I blurted out…yes please I will have the chocolate mousse tart which I have to say was pretty ahhhmazing!

I don’t have a photo to show you because it literally lasted only a few seconds on my plate!

Walking home at aerobic pace so that I could work off the brick in my tummy I promised myself that I would stay away from all food until the morning. I found myself however making these nutella puff pastry rolls for the teams morning tea! Sugar over load right!

I love nutella. We always keep a jar of it in the cupboard however as silly as it sounds it never occurred to me to make a dessert with nutella until a few months back when I came across these very delish but very filling nutella scrolls at our local coffee shop, Cafe Andiamo in North Sydney. They are so filling that when we get one at work, we share it amongst 4 staff members and two of them are blokes!

My nutella puff pastry rolls are what I call the lighter alternative, if there is such a thing with puff pastry and nutella! Quick and easy to make with literally only two ingredients needed. Three if you decide to count the icing sugar!

So as you can see, it definitely was a chocolate/sugar indulgent day, but as Blondie said to whilst I sipped my glass of wine…we are allowed to splurge now and again.

Bella 🙂

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Mushroom Risotto with Tomato & Chicken

FinSki's Mushroom Risotto 1 — Click on image for delicious recipe

I was given a set of the these beautiful Williams Sonoma Harvest Botanical dinner bowls by Carolyn, my Managing Directors wife for Christmas. Each bowl is carefully decorated in earthy autumn colours with forest fungi, ready for the picking. Portuguese Artisans then finish off each bowl by painting its underside a royal purple. Simply gorgeous.

Naturally, these beautiful fungi bowls had to be filled with a dish that complemented their beautiful craftsmanship, so mushroom risotto it was!

I love risotto. Sure I have had my fair share of disastrous results but how else are you supposed to learn from your mistakes? I love the labour intensive process that is required to produce the end result, watching each rice grain meld with butter and stock to produce a rich, hearty and warming goodness.

If like me you are a fan of this laborious cooking process, then you will absolutely enjoy this hilarious Thermomix risotto review. The Katering Show‘s Kate McLennan and Kate McCartney are fantastic!

Back to the matter at hand! My risotto and beautiful bowls. I am quietly pleased at the risotto results and I think the bowls are amazing.

Love risotto? What’s your favourite?

Bella

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Mushroom tour May 2015

Wow, what a busy time it has been for Bella and I. We’ve been so busy getting other projects for FinSki’s off the ground (more information on these later) that we almost lost track of time and let Autumn fly by without a tour!

We’ve been out several times this year to both the Southern Highlands and Oberon areas, enjoying the serenity that being in the forest brings – well, as serene as it can be with a dog that just loves to roll in wombat poo and having the kids trying to get him to jump in muddy puddles so he can get clean (eau de wombat pour chien)… anyway, the serenity between those moments is magical.

We decided to host a tour on the 17th of May and not surprisingly it booked out in a heartbeat. Friend and amazing photographer Sie Kitts, joined us and beautifully documented the day for our photo journal…

Mushroom tour May 2015

On a brisk and sunny morning the group all met up at Pheasants Nest at 8:00am. Once we had all arrived and introductions were made, we headed off to the forest. An eerie, ghostly fog lay close to the ground as we headed in.

On arrival at our first stop, there’s a brief rundown on the mushrooms we will be foraging for and then it’s on, everyone heads into the forest for their own unique experience of foraging. Continue reading “Mushroom tour May 2015” →

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Mushroom & Walnut Pillows w/ Saffron Milk Cap Sauce

FinSki's Wild Mushroom Pillows1 — Take me to the recipe!

You’ll find our beautiful Mushroom and Walnut Pillows with Saffron Milk Cap sauce recipe in Lyndey Milan’s, Taste of Australia Book. Page 184 to be exact, and yes, Blondie and I take full credit for the recipe! However if you don’t have the book then click here!

Easter Forage Review

Awesome fish for Good Friday fish bbq, packed! Mushroom picking kits, check! Enough food to feed a small army, yep! Wine, bubbles and beer for the boys, tick!

Blondie and I were off for what was going to be yet another amazing Easter at Yarrawonga South with our respective families. Good food, chilled wine, company of long time friends and of course wild mushroom picking! Bliss!

With both cars packed to the top, kids in the back, dog in the front Blondie and I took the long way round. We headed south, stopped off at the Southern Highlands pine forest to pick some mushrooms. Whilst there was nothing to be found (zip, zero!) at our usual spot our spirits could not be dampened! We had the most amazing drive ahead of us. Oberon via Taralga is such a beautiful drive. Winding country roads, sheep and cattle grazing and cool tunes pumping out.

Having arrived at our destination in the cold and wet rain we delayed our foraging adventure to Easter Sunday, after all there was yummy food to be cooked and wine to be drunk!

We knew that Oberon had some rain, but we also heard that it was a very dry summer. Nevertheless with open minds and hope in our hearts we ventured out for our first real forage for 2015. The pressure was on, we had two new picking recruits, Bodie and Bailey, who were keen to see what all the fuss was about.

FinSki's 2015 Mushrooms1 — Mushroom Picking Crew!

FinSki's 2015 Mushrooms2 — New recruit gives it a thumbs up!

Foraging for these beauties can be a fickle thing. Too often there have been stories where people have gone to one section of the forest and found nothing, whilst their foraging counterpart managed to pick a large haul!

Driving into the forest for the first time each season can be a funny thing, the nerves, the excitement, the smell of the fresh pine air, the need to train your eyes to spot the difference between a saffron milk cap mushroom and a saffron coloured rock or leaf (yes, it does happen).

We made a bee line for our true, tried and tested spot but to our disappointment we ended up with a tiny basket of …. 8 mushrooms! Not each, not per day but for the whole trip.

FinSki's Pasta1 — First Saffron Milk Cap of 2015!

When you do manage to get your hands on these flavorsome Saffron Milk Cap mushroom you can’t go past our Mushroom and Walnut Pillows with Saffron Milk Cap Sauce! Perfect for the autumn months and best enjoyed with a glass of chilled chardonnay.

Bella and Blondie

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Chicken pie with the lot!

Half way through last year Blondie introduced me to Aussie Farmers Direct. A great initiative supporting local farmers via an independent online retail facility. Each Monday and Thursday they deliver to my door fresh fruit and veggies along with a selection of meats and dairy items.

At first I was very skeptical of using this service, having bad experiences with both, Coles on line and the Woollies delivery service, however I took the plunge and placed my first order and was very pleasantly surprised.

What appealed to me most about Aussie Farmers Direct was that in my own small way I was supporting Australian farmers, buying Australian made products and keeping the $ in Australia. I also love the fact that it comes to my door bright and early in the morning, 6 am!

What I dislike like is my own negligence that seems to have happened 3 times in a row – forgetting to take stock of what was in the fridge prior to my Thursday and Monday delivery to ensure that I don’t double or triple up in some cases on certain items.

Having another frantic week at work I forgot to revise my Thursday order, as a result I have ended up with three leeks, 3 bags of onions (I can see French onion soup being made!) several bags of mushrooms (ravioli here we come!) carrots (yep Spot the bunny will be happy!) enough garlic to ensure that Count Dracular never visits Team FinSki’s! Cauliflower that is clearly not very happy to be sharing the fridge real estate space with another younger sibling.

With the fridge bursting I had to come us with a recipe that would use as many of the over purchased veggies as I could.

Whilst it hasn’t exactly been pie weather in Sydney I jumped at the opportunity to make a good ol’ fashioned chicken pie with the lot!

I love pies, the home made ones, not the store bought ones with the wobbly bits in the filling. There is something simple, nourishing and very homely about a good ol’ fashioned pie with a perfect crust!

My chicken pie recipe is really a no brainer, you can pack it with any left over veggies you like! The secret is in using good quality stock, I make my own and adding a little wholegrain mustard for extra taste.

I normally make a big pie to feed us for at least 2 maybe 3 nights and then freeze the rest in small batches to make more pie, or mini pies.

What’s your favourite pie?

Bella 🙂

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Christmas Tree Ice Cream Cones

You would have had to been living under a log the last few weeks to not know that it is Christmas in 11 sleeps!

I am a Christmas junkie! I love the food, the wine, the decorations and of course the planning which starts for me as soon as humanly possible! Our Christmas tree goes up religiously on the 1st of December however if the 1st should happen to fall on a week day then you can legally without offending the Christmas spirits put your tree and decorations up the weekend before! Decorating is a huge event, the boxes come out, the Buble Christmas tunes are pumped and I plot around the house with with a glass of champagne whilst Imogen decorates the tree. The hubby on the other hand prefers to have a beer or two at the local, however he is getting better with the decorations going up!

It turned out that this year hubby had two work functions each night so paper art decorations in hand Imogen and I decorated our lounge and dinning room. Very proud of our colour coordinated efforts!

Back to the food aspect of Christmas! These little ice cream cone Christmas trees are too easy to make and the kids will love helping decorate them!

You need to ensure that the ice cream freezes well otherwise it will melt too quickly when you take the cones out. Although we didn’t have this problem, they were all gobbled up within seconds of coming out of the freezer!

If you have a Christmas inspired desert then please feel free to share!

Merry Christmas and Wesołych Świąt!

Bella 🙂

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Asparagus and Chorizo Soup

Asparagus and Chorizo Soup is a perfect Spring time soup with the fresh, sweet asparagus all over the veggie markets at the moment.

This asparagus soup would probably be my favourite, especially when teamed with a toasted ciabatta or turkish bread. The holes serve as lots of mini bowls that when dunked into the soup fill up and become the most perfect edible spoon. Just be sure to cut the bread length ways not into slices otherwise you will end up with most of it on the table!

This soup is a great canvas to show off a lovely chorizo sausage, with it’s distinctive smokey flavour and bright red colour contrasting with the mellow green of the soup.

Slurp it up wholeheartedly… Blondie

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