Dear Reader,

It’s late afternoon, friends are due for dinner and, as usual, I’ve left it to the last moment to make something fabulous to eat.

A quick rummage in my fridge revealed a tub of muhamarra‚ (a marvellous earthy red capsicum dip), some green olive tapenade, a packet of haloumi, a paperbag of flat mushrooms, and a container of marinated labna balls – though I’m loathe to disclose some of the more mouldy items I discovered along the way.

My curiosity more often than not gets the better of me which helps to explain the number of faddish bits and pieces I hang onto.
You’d think I’d be better organised given that so much of my work involves the creation and testing of tasty recipes. But the truth is I go through phases when I’m mad about a new ingredient or product and use it at every opportunity then forget about it so that what was once the object of my affection ends up at the back of the fridge.

But back to tonight’s dinner. Given I had only an hour or two to prepare something, what to do?

I recalled an article I’d read recently on tapas, and our current love affair with small shared plates. It’s also a style of eating which – if you have a good gourmet deli and Asian food store nearby – lends itself to easy yet stylish entertaining. Because I already had a number of tapas‚ style foods in my fridge, I decided to work around this theme.
The muhamarra‚ green olive tapenade and marinated labna balls (these, by the way, are made from yoghurt curd, shaped into balls and preserved in olive oil and herbs) needed no embellishment, just some toasted sourdough bread or wheat crackers as accompaniments.
Ideal grazing food with a drink in hand.
The haloumi could be sliced, sprayed with a little olive oil and pan-fried on both sides then served with a wedge of lemon – or dressed up with chargrilled red capsicum strips and a handful of baby rocket leaves.
The mushrooms could be marinated for 15 – 20 minutes in a mixture of extra virgin olive oil, finely chopped garlic, sea salt and cracked pepper then flung under a medium-hot grill until cooked through. Topped with a scattering a freshly chopped herbs (parsley, basil, chives) and some of the pan juices, they’re unbeatable.
So much for what was in the fridge.

There were plenty of rice paper rolls in the pantry cupboard, another of my current obsessions. One of the beauties of these is that guests can make their own combinations, a convivial way of entertaining if you set out bowls of warm water (to soften the rice paper) and offer a variety of ingredients as fillings. I love them rolled up with a slice of smoked salmon spread with Dijonnaise‚ and filled with slices of avocado, julienned green onions and coriander leaves. I also like them filled with shredded BBQ Chinese duck, a dollop of hoisin or plum sauce, a couple of pieces of trimmed green onion and cucumber and a small cluster of enoki‚ mushrooms.

 

 Thinking it through a bit further I realised the green olive tapenade would be terrific tossed through hot pasta and topped with diced tomato, fetta and red onion (if you mix the tapenade through a little of the pasta cooking water, it makes it easier to combine). Or spread over thinly cut slices of tender veal and rolled up with a slice of mozzarella and some chopped semi-dried tomatoes, then secured with a toothpick and pan fried.

If I’d given myself time to get to the fishmonger, I’d have bought freshly shucked local oysters and topped them with a squeeze of native finger lime or a splash of red wine vinegar and very finely chopped eschalots. I’d also have bought some sashimi-quality tuna steaks and let them sit in a mixture of teriyaki marinade, mirin, garlic and ginger for 10 – 15 minutes then quickly seared them in a pan or on the chargrill and served them with wilted baby spinach tossed with a little sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds.

And for dessert? Depending on the time of year, I’d split fresh figs, peaches, nectarines or apricots in half, dredge them with sugar and cinnamon and pop them under the grill until warm and caramelised on top. Great with lemon myrtle or bush honey yogurt. Alternatively I’d have melted a block of 70% Lindt or Valrhona dark chocolate, tossed through some toasted flaked almonds and poured the lot over a good quality vanilla ice cream.

And in a perfect world I’d have had time to get to my cheesemonger and buy a round of the utterly delectable ripe French triple cream Brillat Savarin cheese. To ensure its creaminess, I’d have removed it from the fridge a few hours earlier then sliced off its lid and sat it in the middle of the table accompanied by some fruit toast.

Then I’d have given each guest a polished silver spoon so that they could dip into it.

Now that’s decadence!

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