At my house, weekends are the days where the kitchen comes alive with real creativity. By contrast, my midweek meals are usually extremely uninspired (I'm sure I am not alone here).

My day job is rather hectic so I'm often exhausted when I get home so quick and easy dinners are always on the cards. This can lend itself to a lot of repetition, but every now and again when preparing a weekday meal I take a moment to think outside my usual weeknight recipe box and create something new to add to my repertoire of quick weeknight meals.

This recipe is one of those new weeknight meal success stories. I've used harissa before in my harissa chicken wraps recipe, but I had bought harissa for that recipe not realising how easy it was to make - never again will I buy it! After seeing a recipe for harissa last week, I realised I just had to pop into the supermarket on the way home and make some to marinate chicken with for dinner. Coupled with an idea I had a few days earlier for antipasto couscous, this meal turned out to be extremely flavourful and fragrant. I knew I would be doing you a disservice by not sharing this recipe with you so that you can add it to your midweek meal repertoire too.

Homemade Harissa Chicken Skewers

Why speck wrapped potato croquettes? Why not!

I love a potato croquette as much as the next guy (although probably not as much as Scotty who seriously loves them). But I'm not really a fan of deep frying as I always get nervous about how dangerous it can be. Also, there is always a healthier way to make something as tasty as deep fried food is without actually having to drop it in oil.

In this instance, I wrapped it in speck. I am sure many of you will argue that wrapping potato mash in speck is still not entirely healthy... but seriously, flavour is always at the top of my list and a little slice of speck here or there really isn't going to hurt anyone!

Speck is made in a similar way to prosciutto, only it is made from the shoulder of the pig and not the leg, and is deboned prior to the curing process. It is cured in salt and spices for several weeks (often juniper berry is included) then it is cold smoked and matured for a few months.

Less like prosciutto and more bacon-like, Speck has a greater depth of flavour to bacon due the curing process and is wonderful in risotto and pasta... oh yeah, and wrapped around mash!

Do yourself a favour and try these flavourful baked speck wrapped potato gems for your next family meal.

Speck Wrapped Potato Croquettes

Makes 8

8 potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed
1 egg
1 spring onion, finely chopped
4 mushrooms, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Few sprigs of continental parsley, finely chopped
1 teaspoon lemon zest
salt & pepper
8 slices of speck
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 200° Celsius.

In a bowl mix together mashed potato, egg, spring onion, mushrooms, garlic, parsley. Then add salt and pepper to taste and mix.

Using your hands form 8 potato shaped croquettes and set aside. Take each croquette and wrap with a slice of speck securing with toothpicks.

Heat olive oil in a large heavy fry pan and brown the speck surrounding the croquettes. Once browned, transfer to a baking tray and place in the oven for 20 minutes or until speck and potato are golden. Remove and serve.

For the last few months Sara from Belly Rumbles and I have been engaging in secret meetings and hushed conversations as we develop an Australian Food Blogger event called The Sweet Swap.

I am delighted to say that many a sweet lolly was consumed in the development of this online event (we are becoming lolly connoisseurs) and today we are both sharing sweet recipes in honour of our announcement - that The Sweet Swap is open for registrations for the next few weeks. So come and be a part of it!

We are also happy to mention that all registration fees (a mere $5.80 each) will be given directly to Child Fund Australia who will be providing three banana shoots to families in Uganda. While we all enjoy sweets, let's make a sweet difference to those in need.

You may remember The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap last year, well this is a more climate friendly and Australian postal service friendly take on it for Australian food bloggers (sending parcels through Australia Post around Christmas time was difficult for all of us).

You can read all about The Sweet Swap here, but below is a brief explanation.

The Sweet Swap is an online event for Australian food bloggers which results in packages of sweets arriving on your doorstep and a few new friendships formed.

Each food blogger is matched with three other bloggers and sends off parcels of home made lollies to their matches. In return three parcels of lollies arrive on doorsteps your doorstep. Post about the experience and receive sweet inspiration from your fellow bloggers.

Registrations Open - Wednesday 1 May 2013 (TODAY!!)
Matches Sent - Monday 17 June 2013
Swapper Mail - by Wednesday 3 July 2013
Recipe and Experience Posts Live - Monday 15 July2013
The Sweet Swap Event Round Up - Friday 26 July 2013

Well enough about The Sweet Swap, I know you are looking forward to my recipe for River Salt Caramels.

"River Salt?" you ask.
Australian Murray River Salt to be precise.

Given we are announcing an Australian Sweet Swap, I figured using Australian ingredients in my sweet recipe today was the right thing to do.

Murray River Salt Flakes are harvested from pure underground saline waters in Australia's Murray-Darling basin. Over time, naturally occuring minerals create a high quality salt with unique flavour and appearance. The crystals are light and delicate with a gorgeous blushed peach colour. They have a wonderfully mild taste and melt quickly and evenly in your mouth.

These flakes proved the perfect combination with chewy caramel. If you're not from Australia you can buy yourself a little pouch of these peach beauties from Australia Online.

River Salt Caramels

Makes 70

1 cup thickened cream

I love a fruit smoothie - fresh, zingy, creamy and balanced. That's the key to a great smoothie, the balance of flavours. Sure, you can throw a whole bunch of things in a blender and still end up with a good smoothie, but a great smoothie? That's all about balance.

For me, a weekend smoothie is a great pre-brunch drink as it is usually made to alleviate my 'Hangry' setting when I've still got a couple of hours till brunch and start getting cranky.

I love to make these at home rather than buy them from a juice chain because the flavour is often lacking from the juice chain smoothies due to an excess use of ice.

Well, enough jabbering (this is Chew Town bites after all) on to my perfect Berry Bliss Smoothie recipe.

Berry Bliss Smoothie

Hands up how many of you have regularly eaten chestnuts during the Australia chestnut season in Autumn each year? I'm I the only one with my hand up?

It's definitely an Italian thing. Each Autumn, My dad would bring home a case of castagne (chestnuts) that he would roast under the oven grill and then peel for us to eat. We usually only ate them grilled this way... but they are definitely much more versatile than you can imagine, you just need to know how to use them.

In fact if you ever get the opportunity you absolutely have to go chestnut picking - being from WA there are growers in Manjimup where this is a possibility. It is perhaps the most fun hunting and gathering you can do. Why? Have a look at how they grow here.

Chestnuts are typically used in savoury dishes so when I was recently fortunate enough to be given a small bag of chestnuts, I knew a dessert was on the cards. Chestnuts are great as they can be eaten raw, cooked, slow cooked, roasted, pureed, boiled, ground... and the list goes on. They definitely have a unique flavour unlike any other nut and can add a whole new flavour profile to your dishes.

I think often the problem people have when they see them in the shops is not knowing how to prepare them as the shell appears so imposing. One way I like to use Chestnuts is in the form of chestnut meal. You'll find the method for making chestnut meal below.

How to make fresh Chestnut Meal

1. Score each chestnut with a knife, cutting an 'X' shape on the flat side.

2. Preheat your oven grill then place chestnuts on a tray and pop under the grill. Grill until chestnut case has darkened and browned then turn chestnuts over and brown other side.

3. Remove from grill and wrap in a tea towel for a few minutes.

4. Peel the casing and fluffy inner casing (apparently called the pellicle) off and you will be left with the edible chestnut kernel - which you can eat now at this stage.

5. Place the chestnut kernels in a food processor and pulse until the chestnuts resemble a meal.



So, what to do with your Chestnut Meal now? Well, it is just like almond meal and can be used in baking for those with Coeliac disease or gluten intolerance.

Why not try my Gluten Free Chestnut and Chocolate cake?

It's a great recipe for those gluten intolerant friends who are sick of all the same gluten free cake options. I served it to a group of new friends recently who were all super surprised when I told them it was gluten free (best. compliment. ever).

Gluten Free Chestnut and Chocolate Cake

Preheat oven to 180° Celsius.

Break dark chocolate into pieces and place in a glass bowl. Melt chocolate pieces in the microwave in short bursts stirring until melted. Set aside

Separate the 6 egg whites and yolks. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form.

In a separate bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Then add melted chocolate and 1 cup of the chestnut meal and stir till well combined.

Add a small amount of the egg white to the chocolate mixture and mix until combined. Add the remaining egg white mixture to the chocolate mixture and fold through gently until just combined (you don't want to work the egg white too much or the cake won't be light and fluffy).

Transfer mixture to a lined 20cm springform pan and place in the oven for 40 - 60 minutes (or until an inserted skewer comes out clean).

Remove from oven and set aside to cool. Remove from springform pan and serve topped with the remaining 1/4 cup chestnut meal.

Chew Town would like to thank Australian Chestnuts for the sample of fresh Australian chestnuts used in this recipe. It brought back wonderful nostalgic memories of my childhood eating chestnuts with my father!

Sometimes the hardest part about cooking during the week is deciding what to make and then finding time to get to the supermarket. To give you an idea of how time poor I am, I still have a dress waiting to be collected at my dressmakers and its been ready for 5 days!

If you are a lover tasty fresh food like me, then frozen and ready to cook meals are probably not your thing. So what do you do if love to cook and eat fresh, but are time poor?

For those of us living in Australia, that's where HelloFresh comes in. It's like fast food for foodies.

Every week, HelloFresh decides what you are going to eat, creates recipes for you, goes to the shops for you and then delivers all the ingredients to your doorstep. Sounds like a dream? It is.

All you do is head to the website and purchase a 3 or 5 day weekly subscription box (classic or vegetarian) for the number of people you need to feed. Then, on Monday the next week, you will get home from work and sitting on your doorstep will be a box full or fresh ingredients and a list of your recipes.

I was lucky enough to try a three day classic box for two recently (valued at $64.00 - that's an extremely affordable $10.60 per person, per meal) with thanks to HelloFresh and Dani Lombard PR.

The week I received my HelloFresh package, I arrived home on Monday afternoon to find a box full of fresh produce sitting on my doorstep. I was delighted to open the box and find ingredients perfectly portioned for the three meals inside. It took a little while to get my head around how the recipe cards and instructions worked (bearing in mind they have to cater for a 3 or 5 day box with either 2, 4 or 6 people) but once I figured it out it was pretty straight forward from then.

The three sets of ingredients and recipes I received were for the following dishes:
1. Moroccan Fish Tagine (ingredients below left)
2. Mushroom Gnocchi (ingredients below middle)
3. Pork with Beetroot and Cabbage (ingredients below right)


What struck me immediately was the quality of all the ingredients included. The vegetables and herbs were snap fresh and the dry ingredients were all brands I would usually buy for myself. Perhaps most impressive was the quality of the proteins.

As an Italian I was dubious of the Gnocchi dish given I make it from scratch, but I was heartened by the inclusion of pre-made gnocchi sourced from Italy. Also, cabbage is possibly my least favourite ingredient ever so I knew I would be modifying the pork dish significantly - but I wasn't fussed, the quality of the pork far outweighed the cabbage!

After cooking all three dishes (including the modified pork chop dish) I would seriously recommend HelloFresh to busy folk who still love to cook and eat fresh. All dishes were full of flavour and were quick and easy to cook (30 minutes tops). Even the gnocchi recipe was great (though personally I'll stick to making my own).


For those of you who are considering the service (or don't live in Australia), HelloFresh have kindly let me share one of their great recipes with you.

Moroccan Fish Tagine

Every now and again you stumble across a gem of a dish that tastes astonishingly good with absolutely minimal effort!

My sister and brother-in-law introduced me to this dish a few years ago. It is one of their go to recipes at dinner parties. The best thing about it is that it can be adapted to suit the number of people you are feeding. You're cooking dinner for you and your partner? Then make it with two fillets. You're serving a table of 10? Then buy a whole fish and have it filleted in two large portions by your fishmonger!

Either way, all you need is a few handfuls of fresh herbs, some chilli, and a lemon to turn it into something wonderful.

Many of us are always on the hunt for a great healthy and quick mid week meal option that we can also convert into something suitable for weekend entertaining. I don't have many of those dishes in my repertoire as it often rare to find a recipe like that - but this one will fit the bill.

If you are a lover of fish, do yourself a favour and try this recipe out. The resulting fish is moist, fragrant and absolutely morish!

Herb Baked Salmon

So, apparently it's Easter this weekend.

How the heck did that spring up on us all so quickly? I had been planning to make hot cross buns for a few weeks and thought I had plenty of time... then BAM Easter is arriving and I realised I better get my skates on.

Lucky for me just as I was thinking I should start researching hot cross bun recipes, I was contacted by Wasamedia to see if I would be interested in joining a group of bloggers at Sweet Street (formerly Short Sweet) a French inspired patisserie for a hot cross bun making demonstration by owner and acclaimed chef Leanne Beck last weekend.

Leanne was invited to open Sweet Street in Parramatta (Church Street mall) with the backing of the local council in an effort to bring more local businesses to the area. With a great creative flair, Leanne has created a patisserie with a Surry Hills-esque cafe vibe for a fraction of money the Surry Hills hipsters spend - and she is proud of it!

With a devil may care attitude, a great affinity with the local people, and a fiery personality, Leanne fits into the local scene perfectly and its hard not to respect her.

Leanne's hot cross buns seem to sell out pretty early on a daly basis, so I was looking forward to learning her technique. She talked us through the steps as she worked in her makeshift kitchen (they are building a new one a few doors down) and seems to work with a very relaxed vibe (my kind of chef).

I loved all the spices she put in her hot cross buns and immediately knew that this was a recipe I'd have to recreate.


While we were waiting for the dough to rise, we got to taste a selection of Sweet Street's treats (say that 10 times fast) and what surprised me the most was the sheer variety of sweet and savoury items on offer - they definitely work hard at Sweet Street.

After a sweet overload (do yourself a favour and try the Lime Cheesecake - it's amazing!) we then watched as Leanne then finished off the buns and each got a couple of them to take home.


After coming home from Sweet Street I was inspired to have a crack at my own version of Leanne's wonderfully spicy buns. Now, I know purists will have a problem with this... but I was determined to make mine without the dried fruit. You see, Scotty isn't a lover of dried fruit so why should he have to miss out on these wonderful Easter treats (also, I'll tolerate dried fruit but I'm not really a lover). Leanne had told me that she thought it was totally fine to modify her recipe to make a chocolate version - so there!

Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns

My dad is a lover of fruit and each week he would return from the Italian club in Perth with trays of fruit while we were growing up. He would get in trouble with my mother as he could never stop at one tray and we used to have to give large portions of fruit away to our family friends.

As a young man in his home town of Quintodecimo, he would jump fences and steal fruit from the local Italian fruit growers... he would tell us that that fruit always tasted the sweetest.

My favourite memories of living at home with dad in Perth was when he would take ripe peaches and a knife (no plate or napkins) and sit on the couch cutting them into perfect portions and handing them out to us. I do miss after dinner fruit time with dad.

Scotty isn't a lover of stone fruit or figs so it was fortuitous that when he was recently away for a work trip I saw the most perfect figs and sugar plums. I took this as a sign from the cosmos and snapped them up immediately.

When thinking about what to create with these fruity beauties I knew I wanted to make a dessert in honour of my father. I grilled the fruite and paired them with shortcrust pastry rounds and whipped mascarpone to create a wonderful dessert stack. These are so easy to make and would be impressive served at any dinner party - the perfect combination.

Now for a little disclaimer: I forgot to buy cream for the whipped mascarpone so I've amended the recipe to include it... it would be much smoother with it added.

Fig, Plum and Whipped Mascarpone Stack

I'm lucky enough to work in Surry Hills during the day, which means I am surrounded by fabulous eating options at all times. Walking distance from the OA warehouse your will find great japanese restaurants, patisseries, pubs, the iconic Bourke Street Bakery, popular movida sydney, small but wonderful Vini restaurant and many more.

A few doors down from Movida Sydney and Vini Restaurant is one of our lunchtime favourites - the very cool Muum Maam Thai restaurant. It has a great vibe and is extremely popular with the locals for its wonderfully flavourful food.

The best part about Muum Maam is that the whole Development team can head there for a communal meal if we are celebrating a birthday or a new appointment. It caters for all diets with healthy options, gluten free options, vegetarian options or full-flavoured not-so-healthy options (the best option of all).

But, while their pork belly is amazing, there are times when even I feel like a lighter option. On those days, my favourite go-to lunch is Muum Maam's version of Larb Gai (Thai chicken salad). It is spectacularly spicy, fragrant, fresh and crunchy with a spot on combination of salty and sweet.

With the eating of many Larb Gai's under my belt, I recently went about trying to recreate it at home, and I think I got pretty darn close! One thing I realised when eating the Muum Maam version is that they serve theirs with really crunchy Chinese cabbage leaves - this is definitely a winner.

Larb Gai is such a great healthy and fragrant meal and I'm convinced you'll actually feel healthier after trying my recipe below.

Larb Gai