Recently, after making some behind the scenes changes to my website I discovered that it had glitched quite seriously in some areas. For example, all the measurements had dropped off my recipe ingredients! That meant the ingredients were listed, but not how much of each the recipe needed. Not helpful at all. Yikes. So, a period of repair has been happening. And it’s been reigniting my enthusiasm for blogging and sharing recipes and the foodie life. I’m also discovering recipes I made a couple of years ago and photographed, but haven’t made onto the site. Like this Fabulous French lemon tart, a recipe I learned from @frenchcookacademy, whose YouTube channel includes great videos with recipes, tips and tips. I made this tart a few years ago and took it to my sister’s for lunch. It was creamy, incredibly lemony and the pastry was just right. I’ve shared the recipe with all credit given to Stephane and French Cooking Academy. And this is the picture of the tart we had for dessert that day - the tart is long gone but the photograph lives on. Enjoy, and if you’re a Francophile like me and love French food, do check out French Cooking Academy. There are classes, recipes, downloads and of course, the YouTube channel. #lemontart #frenchlemontart #lemons #baking #frenchtart #frenchfood #tarts #frenchcooking #dessert #lemondessert #theinfatuatedfoodie #frenchcookingacademy #sweets

It’s been great spending my pre-birthday weekend in Hobart and having the time to catch up with family and friends. Had a great flight down to Hobart, a snippet of which I shared in a previous post. Hobart’s such a pretty place, and I had a wonderful view from my hotel. Dinner Friday night was a casual affair at Botanica. Reasonably priced pub food vibes and I shared a Margarita pizza and some corn fritters with my granddaughter. Enjoyed brunch with friends on Saturday at The Atrium in Hunter Street. Once again, casual vibes and the food was okay. Seeing friends and family is always the highlight though, isn’t it? I spent most of Saturday afternoon with my grandson, Noah. We went fishing - didn’t catch anything though. But that didn’t matter, it was good to just hang out & spend time with him. A real highlight was taking the opportunity to head into the @abchobart studios on Sunday to chat with @luciecutting in person about this month’s shared recipe, Greek Spanakopita. Lucie made my recipe and bought it in & was perfect! It was my third radio spot with Lucie and the first time in the studio. Gold! Tonight I’m ready for home, flying again with @qantas . Tired, relaxed and ready for my birthday tomorrow and a new week. #weekendbreak #hobart #hobartvibes #birthdayweekend #familyandfriends #abcradiohobart #spanakopita #spinachpie #greekrecipe #theinfatuatedfoodie #weekendaway

It was a great flight down to Hobart with @qantas on Friday in one of its A220 aircraft. As we left Melbourne we flew over the top of these fluffy clouds. So pretty. #flying #aircraftview #a220 #qantas ##qantasairways #clouds #theinfatuatedfoodie

Just a lovely fresh-baked focaccia. I use Italian @mulinocaputo flour for most of my bread baking these days. Sadly, I find the Aussie flours don’t produce the same results for breads. This has a great crumb, crunchy crust and a sprinkling of @maldonsalt flakes on top. Yum! #focaccia #focacciabread #homebakedbread #homemadefocaccia #italianbread #italianbaking #freshfromtheoven #theinfatuatedfoodie #yummybread #yeastedbread #caputoflour #italianflour

It’s time to share some exciting news! In February I was contacted by Tamlyn Neck, a a Hobart-based radio producer about becoming a regular guest on ABC Radio Hobart’s Sunday morning In Season segment, hosted by presenter Lucie Cutting. From an unexpected email, I’ve now been a guest on the program twice, the last spot just two days ago. The focus is to share a recipe using Tasmanian seasonal ingredients and we then chat about the recipe and offer some tips for making it. For March, I shared a crispy skin duck breast with spiced plums and a parsnip/potato purée. The recipe marries rich, cooked to perfection duck breast, served with gorgeous spiced plums and a sweet, smooth parsnip purée. It’s a delicious combination. For last Sunday, I baked and shared some delicious chocolate hazelnut brownies. Chocolate seemed the perfect pre-Easter thing and we chatted about the deliciousness of brownies and celebrated Tasmania’s fabulous hazelnut growers.   These radio spots are firing up my culinary spark and slowly helping me get back some depleted creative kitchen mojo. Being able to share my love for good home cooking to a wider audience is truly a joy! 🥰🔥 Thank you for having me on, @luciecutting and @abchobart ... I’m looking forward to my visit to Hobart and in-studio spot in May!   #foodie #radio #cooking #recipe #tasmania #hazelnuts #duckenjoyment #culinarypassion #abchobart #chocolate #brownies #duck #duckbreast #crispyduck #guestspot #chocolatefudgebrownies #chocolatehazelnutbrownies #chocolatefudgybrownies #chocolatecoveredbrownies #spicedplums #theinfatuatedfoodie #inseason #recipeshare #recipesharing

Hot off the heels of her book launch, I am delighted to be part of a group of dedicated foodies who’re celebrating this well regarded cook by sharing a recipe (in my case, two), from it - Recipes Without Borders. Who am I talking about? Radhika Howarth of @radikalkitchen. Described on her website as a ‘food influencer, columnist, content creator, recipe developer and curator of bespoke culinary events’, Radhika’s food encompasses cuisines ‘from Kashmir to Hyderabad and Armenia to Italy’. This is reflected through her book, which is a celebration of global cuisine. No borders needed. Just good food to bring people together. The star of the show, and a recipe I was fortunate to get advanced access to is Aomen da suan xia - also known as Macanese garlic prawns. Although quite simple to make, the flavours just dance off your tongue - spicy and garlicky and with that amazing texture of good, fresh king prawns (shrimp) - well I’m sold. I’ve now made it a couple of times and loved it. I did make a little tweak the first time and popped a drizzle of kecap manis in as I felt it needed a little sweetness to balance. But it works just beautifully without as well. I accompanied it with Kachumber salad, a fresh, herby cucumber and tomato salad with a green-chilli hit that was perfect with the prawns. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of Radhika’s book, Flavours without Borders, and explore more fantastic recipes from this wonderful cook! #radhikaskitchen #FlavoursWithoutBorders #FlavorsWithoutBorders #theinfatuatedfoodie #freshprawns #shrimp #macanesegarlicprawns #garlicprawns #spicyfood #deliciousfood #foodfrommacao #macanesecuisine #kachumbersalad #cucumbersalad #cucumber #worldcuisine #globalfood #bestseller #cookbook #midlandbooksofficial #indianchef #cheflife #chefstalk #chefstable #cookniche

For my third and final November recipe, shared from Mediterranean Escapes by @chefrickstein, here is a fabulous duo of flavour filled food I’ve made in ages. From Turkey, it’s Cinnamon Grilled Chicken with a Broad Bean, Leek and Dill pilaf and Cacik. Long title, yes, but it’s so gorgeously simple to make and utterly delicious. First, you prepare the chicken - or buy bone-in pieces and a couple of chicken breasts to cut the work down. Then you make a simple marinade before finishing that off with part-two and seeing aside to soak in those spices. The pilaf is a simple one pan dish that takes five minutes to throw together before you put the lid on and let it do its thing with the heat off after 10 minutes. Lid stays on until you’re ready to serve. Talk about EASY. Back to the chicken: it’s supposed to be cooked over coals, which I imagine would take this to the stratosphere of taste, but I have neither charcoal or even cast iron grilling capability, so it went into the oven to roast instead. It didn’t matter because it was delectable. I’m looking forward to the day I can actually cook over some coals. Oh wow. The cacik is a simple yoghurt and cucumber dressing that reminded me of raita. It all came together so wonderfully it’s gone onto my to do again list, that’s for sure! Thanks to Giorgio @whennonnocooks who keeps this little band of home cooks together, and to this month’s co-host Niki @nikifreeman for putting the work in and sharing our recipes far and wide. #chefrickstein #onebookthreerecipes #cookbook #mediterraneanfood #recipebook #theinfatuatedfoodie #ricksteincookbook #bbccookbooks #bbcbooks #mediterraneanescapes #turkishfood #turkishrecipe #chickenrecipe #grilledchicken #turkishchicken #pilaf #veggiepilaf #broadbeans #springrecipes #springfood #freshisbest #chickendinner #rickstein

Tucked away in the Herbs, Weeds, Salad Leaves and Other Greens chapter is a recipe that caught my eye. It’s a Baked Greek Omelette with Wild Greens, Herbs, Leeks and Feta from the island of Corfu. It’s my second #onebookthreerecipes share for November from Mediterranean Escapes by @chefrickstein and it’s big and green and oh so yummy! What sets it apart from my normal frittata is the sheer amount of greens in it, along with the freshness of mint and quirkiness of chopped dill. It really has a mediterranean vibe, so dense yet light. I used curly kale for the main green and the only thing I’d do differently next time is chop it super fine before wilting it down. And I was true to the rest of the ingredients, including wonderful free-range eggs. As you’d expect from Rick Stein, this recipe is simple, delicious and it’ll be coming with me to work for lunch. It’d also make a perfectly healthy, quick and easy breakfast. For now, it’s in generous slices in the freezer for future use. Ah, the joys of cooking for oneself. Thanks to Giorgio @whennonnocooks who is the amazing man who just keeps supporting this group of lovely home cooks and this month’s co-host Niki @nikifreeman for putting the work in and sharing our recipes far and wide. #chefrickstein #onebookthreerecipes #cookbook #mediterraneanfood #recipebook #theinfatuatedfoodie #ricksteincookbook #bbccookbooks #bbcbooks #mediterraneanescapes #corfurecipes #omelette #eatyourgreens #kalerecipes #eggs #freerangeeggs #freshisbest

Rick Stein is a legend in my eyes. I’ve always adored his unfussy approach to food and the way he shuns micro greens arranged perfectly atop a one-inch piece of carrot just melts me. And because I’m not a Michelin chef at home, I seek food that IS good rather than just looks spectacular and tastes fine but nothing to write home about. Enter @chefrickstein for inspiration. The big divide is his love of the fishiest seafood dishes that I wouldn’t be able to eat. But then there’s his middle ground and this wonderfully simple recipe of Seared Swordfish steaks with Salmoriglio is a highlight of this month’s Mediterranean Escapes cookbook. I first made this recipe after seeing it on the TV series of the same name, released in 2007. We wrote the recipe down off the screen and then made it a few times. Its freshness and zing with a salad and potato or two on the side were a fantastic summer staple. But time passed and life changed and other recipes came and this became a fond, if distant, memory. That memory was reawakened when I saw it in its glory in the pages of this book. The fabulousness of this flavoursome wonder came back to me, so I had to make it. So I went and bought some lovely fresh swordfish from a local market, picked parsley from my herb garden and a lemon from the tree, then set to cooking. I decided to serve two salads alongside - a light potato, flavoured with a good dash of the salmoriglio and green salad for texture. Delicious. This recipe is firmly back on my repertoire and I’ll be enjoying it a lot more over the coming summer months. Thanks to Giorgio @whennonnocooks who is the stalwart behind this group of lovely home cooks and this month’s co-host Niki @nikifreeman for putting the work in and sharing our recipes far and wide. #chefrickstein #onebookthreerecipes #cookbook #mediterraneanfood #recipebook #theinfatuatedfoodie #ricksteincookbook #bbccookbooks #bbcbooks #mediterraneanescapes #salmoriglio #swordfish #searedswordfish #seafood #freshfish #freshseafood #freshisbest #summerfood