Solange Knowles

Beyonce's younger sister Solange is definitely one to watch. I love the complete contrast to her sister's style. I find Beyonce's style predictable, boring and overly polished. Exception would have to be all the lovely couture in her video for her track "Run the World". Her sisters style on the other hand is fun, slightly edgy and quirky. I love that she isn't afraid of bright colours and mixing prints. Oh and that hair, love it. 
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How cute and well dressed is her son?

Images via Tumblr, Refinery29 and Google Images

Herbed Goats Cheese and Eggplant with Sultana and Pine Nut Dressing

There are certain combinations of foods that work well. One being eggplant and goats cheese, the other being pine nuts and sultanas. Together they are a treat. This dish is full of flavour. The dressing also work wonders over wilted spinach. Apologies for the dreadful photograph!

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Adapted Recipe from Masterchef Season 2 Cookbook

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Ingredients

3 eggplants

Salt, to sprinkle

3 ripe roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise, seeded

4 red capsicums, seeded, cut into flat pieces

300g soft goats cheese

180g fresh ricotta cheese

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/3 cup basil, chopped

2 tablespoon thyme 

Quality bread to serve

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Sultana & Pine Nut Dressing

3/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1/3 cup sultanas

1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted

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Method

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1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Cut the eggplant lengthwise into 5mm slices, lay out in a single layer and sprinkle generously with salt. Leave for 30 minutes. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels.

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2. Arrange the tomatoes cut side up in an oven proof dish and bake for 30 minutes or until soft. 

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3. In the mean time, preheat a char grill. Lightly oil the eggplant slices and cook on the grill for 5 minutes each side or until browned and tender. Set aside to cool. Meanwhile, cook the capsicums on a foil lined try under a hot grill until the skin has blackened and blistered. Place into a plastic bag for 10 minutes to cool. Peep off the skins. 

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4. Combine the goats cheese, ricotta, garlic, basis and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

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5. Lightly oil moulds (the recipe calls for 6 ring moulds 7cm in diameter and 5cm high) but I used larger moulds. It will depend on the serving size you decide to go for. Line the bases and sides with eggplant. Spread about 1 tablespoon of the cheese mixture into each base, then add a tomato half. Add another layer of cheese, some capsicum, more cheese, then a layer of eggplant on top. Press down firmly and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm.

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6. To make dressing, mix the oil, vinegar and honey together or until well combined, then add the pine nuts and sultanas. Place the eggplant on plates and slide the rings up and off. Drizzle with the dressing and serve with bread.

To find a shoe...

I have a wedding coming up. Thankfully I have the dress lined up. Yes, the relief! But of course there always has to be dramas with weddings whether or not you are the bride or the guest.

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Manning Cartell dress purchased last year. Yet to wear it. 

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Love it. Love everything about it. The back, the sleeves, the neckline, the contrast between the fabrics, the girly and the rock star. But oh the pain, I've put on a heap of weight since getting married last year and it no longer fits. Step one: be good, eat well and exercise and lose that bloody weight. It has to fit me. 

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Step two. I need shoes. I had these shoes in mind by Peeptoe. Purchased them at one of their warehouse sales last year for a great price. Love the red and the velvet together. Think it could work but thinking it might take the focus away from the dress. 

.I have been really good lately. I have not been doing any shopping. On a strict budget but think I need to splurge. Emphasis added on the "need".

During my search for a shoe, I came to the realisation that I have too many suede heels and I wanted to try to find a non-suede heel. To my dismay a nice shoe at the moment has to be in suede. Nice non-suede heels are so hard to find! 

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Now for some options and some inspiration...

Photos via Net-a-porter, Le Blog De Betty and Google Images

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The world definitely becomes a better place with this Miu Miu collection. I recently went to the Miu Miu store opening in Sydney. The heels were there. I died and went to heaven. Yes really.

Diane von Furstenberg platform heels via Net-a-Porter

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I love these in this colour. They also come in black. Much more affordable than the Miu Miu ones. If only that didn't matter! 

Miu Miu via Net-a-Porter

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Love these but way too high for me. I'm extremely uncoordinated, have a tendency to fall down steps, especially at weddings. Oh the shame. As a result, I can't do extremely high heels.

Heels via Topshop

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These are so girly and fun. Not sure about the bows. Would love if they came in navy. Also, probably bit too high for me. 

Heels via Zara

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Now for some elegance with these round toe t-bars. I love t-bar strapped heels. Now the glitter courts, cute but not sure about the heel. Anyone know if either of these heels are at the Sydney store?

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Just noticed none of the heels are in plain leather. It's either suede, velvet or some other fabric! 

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To conclude my pile of thoughts, what are your thoughts and suggestions?

Prawns with Chilli Garlic Butter and Pineapple Salsa

With only a week and a half to go before Spring arrives, it's time to think about the foods we love to eat in the warmer months. I love tropical fruit, and I especially love adding them to savoury foods. Here is a recipe with a great example of it. 

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This is recipe by one of everyone's favourite Masterchef contestants this year, Hayden Quinn. The original recipe uses scampi but I decided to use prawns instead. Either would work well. Word on the street is he has a TV show coming up. Should be interesting to see what comes out of that. 
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Anyone else feeling slightly lost without Masterchef? What is everyone's favourite summer dish? 
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Adapted Recipe from Masterchef Magazine
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Ingredients
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500g peeled prawns with tails on
Lemon cheeks to serve
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Chilli Garlic Butter
125g butter, softened
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 chilli, seeded and finely chopped
1 lemon, zested
2 tablespoons chives, finely chopped
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Pineapple Salsa
400g pineapple, peeled, cut into 1cm pieces
1 avocado, cut into 1cm pieces
1 chilli, seeded thinly sliced
2 eschalots, finely chopped
1/4 cup coriander leaves
1/4 cup mint leaves
1 lime, zested and juiced
1 1/4 sesame oil
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Method
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1. To make the chilli garlic butter, combine the butter, garlic, chilli, lemon zest and chives in a small bowl, then season with salt and pepper.
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2. To make pineapple salsa, place all ingredients in a large bowl and toss to combine, then season.
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3. Preheat a chargrill pan or barbecue to high. Melt a quarter of the chilli garlic butter in a small saucepan. Remove the pan from the heat, and using a pastry brush, brush the prawns with the butter. Chargrill prawns in 2 batches until cooked. 
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4. Place the prawns on a platter. Spoon over the remaining garlic butter and the pineapple salsa, and serve immediately with lemon cheeks. 

Topshop A/W 2011 Lookbook

There is one thing I find so painful (as I'm sure many of you also do). It is especially annoying when you spend a lot of time reading blogs. What is it? ...Being in the Southern Hemisphere while looking at blogs from the Northern Hemisphere with everyone parading round in their Summer gear. I always find I get lots of inspiration too late in Winter when it's time to think about Summer. 
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One fine example is the new lookbook for Topshop's A/W 2011 collection. At least us Aussies can share in the excitement of news this week that our first Topshop store will be opening in Melbourne later this year.  
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Now to the lookbook. Love it. Here are some of my favourites. 
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Prim & Polished

New Mod

Glam Underground

Bavaria

Images from Topshop

Good Food and Wine Show and Confit Duck with Star Anise and Cherry Sauce

Belated post but here goes. On 2 July 2011 Ms P and I attended the Good Food and Wine Show. I attended with Ms P last year and again we had a great ol' time stuffing our faces. 

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This year it seemed spread out in terms of the layout of the stands. Last year I felt the walkways were too narrow and restrictive. I felt that the restructuring this year became pointless with the introduction of the great ol' trolleys. Every corner you walked a trolley came rocking up behind you, in front of you, on top of you.... everywhere! Drove me slightly mad! My advice to the organisers for next year.... please get rid of them! 

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The infamous trolleys.

Manu Feildel at the Fisher & Paykel Celebrity Theatre

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Excuse the shocking photograph. Now this was very entertaining. It was interesting to see Manu uncut. Boy does he enjoy the attention. He was hilariously funny and oh so inappropriate. Often you were laughing at him. It was 10.30am at the morning and boy was he on fire. Earlier in the year at the Sydney Taste Festival Ms P and I had met him. Flirtatious as they say. Let's just say he couldn't stop flirting with Ms P. I was hoping he would somehow miraculously recognise Ms P among the hundreds of people and select her as part of the audience members to taste the food but that didn't happen. Oh no!

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Pukara Estate Stand - always popular and always a joy to see at food festivals and events. Big fan of their garlic mayonnaise, their truffle oil, garlic oil and just about everything else.

Real Chai Stand - On display and available for taste testing was their normal chai tea mix and their chocolate chai tea. Both delightful. I purchased the normal chai. I have been savouring each cup made. They have their tea available to purchase online. 

Butch's Smallgoods of the Riverland - Loved their pepperoni. I bought some and it didn't last an hour at home before my husband and I finished it. We are little piggies.

D'Licious Drinks - Wild Beverages - Lots of interesting drinks on offer. Big fan of the watermelon flavoured water by "Sparkling".

Ezy Aussie Prawn Peeler - I've purchased this peeler and I haven't managed to work out how it works.  Looked so easy to use in his little informercial. Must try again! 

Dilmah Tea Stand - Tea stands are always quite popular. Prior to the day I hadn't heard of Celestial Seasonings tea. I fell in love with the Sleepytime Vanilla and the Goji Berry Pomegranate Green Tea. 

Wine Testing is always popular. 

Sabor Portuguese Mousse - Their mousse was beautiful. I purchased some of their hazelnut mousse and wish I bought some more. 

Barilla Pasta Stand - Food demonstrations and samples on offer.

My Kitchen Rules 2011 Winner Bella at Barilla Pasta Stand

Marion Grasby

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For lunch we went to the Oxford Landing Estates Restaurant where dishes from Poh Ling Yeow and Marion Grasby's cook books were available. Their were two menus. A Poh menu and a Marion menu. We choose one from the Poh menu and two from the Marion menu.

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Entree: Poh's Malaysian Beef Satay Skewers with Fruit & Vegetable Skewer. 

This was nice but slightly disappointing. I liked that the fruit and vegetable skewer was a refreshing accompaniment to the meat. The meat was slightly dry. The satay sauce was tasty but nothing special.

Main: Marion's Confit Duck with Star Anise, Cherry Sauce and Mash

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This was one of the highlights of the day. The duck was cooked perfectly. The cherry sauce was sweet and lovely. The mash was great to soak up the lovely sauce. See below for the recipe. The recipe doesn't include the mash component. 

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Dessert: Marion's Coconut and Kaffir Lime Panna Cotta with Strawberries and Lime Syrup

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This was light and heavenly. The coconut and the lime worked together so well. Check out  the recipe here. Can't wait to make it myself. 
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After trying the main and the dessert, I'm looking forward to checking out Marion's new book. Should be interesting. 

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Confit Duck with Star Anise and Cherry Sauce

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Recipe from Marion Grasby's Recipes & Stories from a Hungry Cook via brochure from the Oxford Landings Restaurant

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Ingredients (serves 6)

2 tablespoon sea salt

3 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 star anise

6 thyme sprigs

6 duck marylands

2kg duck or goose fat

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Cherry Sauce

1/4 cup red wine

680g jar Morello cherries, drained, 1/4 cup syrup reserve

2 tablespoon white sugar

2 star anise 

1 cinnamon stick

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Method

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1. Use a pestle and mortar to lightly pound the salt, garlic cloves, peppercorns, star anise and thyme springs. The garlic needs to be slightly crushed and the spices cracked. Rub the salty mixture into the duck pieces, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight to marinate. 

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2. For the confit, the following day, preheat the oven to 100 degrees. Rinse the duck under cold water to remove the salt mixture. Pat dry and place in a caserole dish or deep roasting tray that's large enough to fit the duck into one layer.

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3. Heat the duck or goose fat in a saucepan until just melted. Pour over the duck, making sure all the pieces until the meat is soft and shrinking back from the bone. Remove from the oven. Now you can crisp up the duck skin and enjoy immediately or store the confit duck to improve the flavour. If you would like to store, transfer the pieces into a large sterilised jar or container. Strain the fat into the jar to completly cover. Cool, then store in fridge until you're ready to serve. It can be stored for up to 2 weeks.

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4. When you are ready to eat it, heat the oven to 160 degrees. Heat a heavy based frying pan over medium heat. Remove the duck pieces from the fat. You will need to scrape away the excess fat, if you've been storing them in the fridge. Add the pan, skin-side first, and sear for 3-4 minutes or until the skin is golden and crisp. Turn the duck pieces over and cook on the other side for about 2 minutes or until warmed through. Transfer to a roasting tray and keep warm in the oven while the cherry sauce is made.

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5. Pour off most of the fat from the pan, leaving about 1 tablespoon and put it back on medium heat. Pour in the red wine and sizzle for half a minute, using a wooden spoon to scrape off any crisp duck bits from the base of the pan. Add the cherries and reserved syrup, sugar, star anise and cinnamon. Simmer for about 15 minutes to infuse the flavour and let the cherries collapse and thicken the sauce slightly. Serve the duck with generous spoonfuls of sweet cherry sauce.

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Disclaimer: I have yet to try this recipe out. I have only eaten the dish with joy.