Oh how I love to snack.

As a result, I am always on the look out for tasty and healthy snacking options for when the munch monster hits.

Polenta chips are the best guilt-free snack especially when baked in the oven instead of deep fried. They are a perfect alternative to potato chips and are wonderfully tasty with a crispy outside and fluffy inside.

A traditional Italian peasant food, Polenta is made from ground cornmeal. It usually takes a long time to cook, requiring constant stirring. However, nowadays you can find instant polenta which takes the cooking time from an hour to 5 minutes.

After cooking, polenta can be eaten straight away the base for a main meal (much like you would mashed potato). However, if you cook polenta then let it set to a dough like texture, you can cut it into various shapes and use it in a multitude of ways.

These polenta chips are definitely a winner and are handy to have on hand to serve to guests who pop around for a drink. They can be prepared in advance and then baked when your guests arrive.

I love serving my polenta chips with a chilli salsa verde. To try and cut down on the olive oil I like to add lemon juice and ricotta to my salsa verde which also results in a creamy texture. 

If you haven't tried your hand at polenta chips yet, I suggest you give them a go. It's going to be hard to convince people they are actually healthy given how tasty they are!

BAKED POLENTA CHIPS

Ingredients:
1 cup vegetable stock
3 cups water
1 1/3 cup instant polenta
1/2 cup grated parmesan
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Handful continental parsley, finely chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
Olive oil spray

Measure out all ingredients before starting as once the polenta is cooking it all needs to happen quickly.

In a large saucepan heat vegetable stock and until just boiling.  Whisk in the polenta adding it in one long stream and whisking constantly.

Keep whisking until the polenta pulls away from the side of the saucepan. Remove from the heat and stir in the parmesan, lemon zest and continental parsley.

Place the polenta mixture into a greased square baking dish and press down firmly ensuring the the polenta mixture is packed together and smoothed over the top. Pop in the fridge for an hour or two until the polenta is set.

Remove from the fridge and cut away the curved outer edges. Slice into long chips (cut them thickly as you want the chips to be crispy outside and fluffy inside). Lay chips on baking trays lined with paper (being sure not to overlap the chips) and spray with olive oil.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Place polenta chips in oven and bake until golden and crispy (about 25 minutes) turning them over halfway through baking and spraying again with olive oil. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with sea salt and serve with chilli salsa verde.

CHILLI SALSA VERDE 

Ingredients:
1/2 long red chilli
3 tbsp ricotta
large handful basil leaves
large handful continental parsley
small handful mint leaves
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/3 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Place all ingredients in a blender and blitz for about 3-5 minutes until the chilli and herbs have been incorporated completely and you are left with a creamy green dip. If the Salsa Verde tastes a little grassy, add more basil leaves to offset the mint.

Before summer arrives, I'm determined to get in a few more wonderful winter treats. Spring has well and truly sprung in Sydney and it has made me realise (rather sadly) that I'm going to miss the hearty dishes I have gotten used to during a rather chilly winter.
In my last post (chai panna cotta with blood orange jelly) I mentioned that I made this Fish and Fennel Pie along with that dessert for my mother a couple of weeks ago while she was visiting from Perth. It was the perfect menu as both dishes were made in their entirety the day before and all I was required to do to serve was pop the pie in the oven, and add a little garnish to the dessert.

To lighten this pie for the warmer weather I used filo pastry. It is a great topping for a fish pie as it is light and flaky and works perfectly with delicate fish. You can also adapt this recipe to use many different types of fish. I chose to use a meaty salmon and offset it with a firm white fish (ling).

If you are also feeling like making one final dish to farewell Winter and say hello to Spring in the coming weeks, try this fragrant and delicate fish pie - it's a great transition dish.

FISH AND FENNEL PIE
Adapted from a recipe by Andy Allen
Serves 6

Ingredients:
25g butter (for roux)
20g plain flour (for roux)
1 tbsp olive oil
20g butter
1 clove smoked garlic
1 small fennel bulb, diced
1/2 leek, thinly sliced
1 medium purple carrot, diced
1 potato, diced
1 tbsp lemon thyme leaves
1/2 lemon, juiced
200ml dry white wine
500ml fish stock
1 tbsp chopped parsley
250ml cream
450g salmon, in 2cm cubes
100g ling fish, in 2 cm cubes
1 pkt filo pastry

Start with the roux by melting butter in a small saucepan, adding in flour and stirring constantly for a few minutes (do not let the roux colour). 

In a large fry pan heat remaining butter and oil and sautee fennel, leek, garlic, carrot, potato and lemon thyme until softened (about 8-10 minutes).

Add wine to the pan and once it has mostly evaporated add stock and allow to simmer till it reduces by 3/4. Add chives, parsley, salt and pepper to taste and lemon juice and stir well. Pour in cream and roux and then simmer until thick (about 6-8 minutes).

Take six single serve pie dishes and place 4-5 pieces of salmon and 2 pieces of ling fish in each and top with pie filling mixture.

On a clean bench lay down one piece of filo pastry and brush with olive oil. Top with another piece and brush the top with olive oil. Cut into six long strips and then wrap each strip around itself to form a rosette and place the rosettes on top of one of the pie dishes. Repeat with remaining filo pastry till all the pies are covered.

When you are ready to cook the pies, preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and bake for 30 minutes until golden and crispy. Serve with a garden salad.

I've become a lover of citrus later in life. I never quite understood my mother's fascination with citrus and why she would add it to every savoury dish and choose a citrus dessert over a chocolate one. I'm now beginning to understand her love of citrus and the way it can lift a dish and I now regularly add a touch or lemon or lime to almost everything.

Recently I decided I wanted to make a chai panna cotta and I found myself thinking that the spiced creaminess of the panna cotta would be offset beautifully by the fresh zing of a blood orange jelly. It seemed a perfect combination to me, both in flavour and for the look of the dessert.

I do have to admit that I used to be scared of trying dishes that required gelatine, worried that I would either overestimate or underestimate the amount of gelatine required. But since a successful rendition of Rachel Lane's Persian Delight Jelly at Easter, my trepidation has eased.

Mum was over from Perth last week and so we had her over for dinner and a catch up. Knowing how she loves light desserts, it was the perfect opportunity to try out the chai panna cotta with blood orange jelly I had been concocting. I served up a fragrant fish and fennel pie to start and then served up these little jeweled beauties.

They were certainly impressive when winding their way to the table, and after first bite we all agreed that there was a great balance between the panna cotta and the jelly. A wonderful light and fragrant end to the meal!

CHAI PANNA COTTA WITH BLOOD ORANGE JELLY
Serves Six

Ingredients:

200ml blood orange juice
40g sugar
1 1/2 tbsp powdered gelatine
8 cardamom pods, bruised
1 tbsp cinnamon bark
12 cloves
2 vanilla tea bags
1 chai tea bag
1/2 cup boiling water
1 litre buttermilk
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
1/4 cup pistachios, roughly chopped
1 tbsp blood orange zest

In a  small glass/mug place 1/3 cup boiling water and add cardamom, cinnamon bark, cloves and teabags and set aside to steep for 30 minutes.

Heat 100ml blood orange juice and 20g sugar in a saucepan until sugar has dissolved. Stir in 1/4 tablespoon gelatine powder and stir until completely dissolved. Divide the mixture between 6 dessert glasses and pop in the fridge to set.

Strain the teabag mixture into a bowl retaining just the liquid. In a saucepan, place liquid from tea mixture, buttermilk, sugar, ground cinnamon and vanilla. Cook over a low heat until sugar has dissolved and buttermilk is warmed. Then remove from heat.

In a small bowl place remaining boiling water and add 1 tbsp gelatine. Whisk until dissolved then pour into buttermilk mixture, and whisk until combined.

Cool down the mixture to room temperature. Remove glasses with blood orange jelly from fridge (jelly should now be slightly firm to the touch) and divide the panna cotta mixture between the glasses. Place in the fridge for two hours until panna cotta is firm to the touch.

Heat the remaining 100ml blood orange juice and 20g sugar in a saucepan until sugar has dissolved. Stir in 1/4 tablespoon gelatine powder and stir until completely dissolved. Cool to room temperature then divide the mixture between 6 dessert glasses and pop in the fridge for another 4 hours to set completely.

Prior to serving divide the pistachios and blood orange jelly rind between the six glasses and serve.

I've wanted to try my hand at chocolate covered Oreos for some time now. They've been showing up in my pinterest feed a lot and combined with a burning desire to also try out chocolate transfer sheets, I knew I just had to give these a go.

Now, they do require a little bit of preparation with the purchase of Oreo molds, chocolate candy melts and chocolate transfer sheets but after you've laid your hands on these items, the actual chocolate transfer and coating method is deceptively simple (for those in Australia I got my molds, melts and chocolate transfers from Cakes Around Town).

What you end up with is an extremely impressive looking and tasting chocolate accompaniment to serve with coffee at your next dinner party, and you hardly have to lift a finger.

My first batch were a complete success so I took them to work with me the next day. The looks of awe on the faces of my colleagues caused me to utter guiltily "No, really, they are so simple to make!".

CHOCOLATE COVERED OREOS

Ingredients:

WHITE CHOCOLATE AND RASPBERRY
Super white chocolate candy melts 300g
12 Freeze dried raspberries
Chocolate transfer sheet
1 packet Golden Oreos

MINT CHOCOLATE
Mint chocolate candy melts 300g
Chocolate transfer sheet
1 packet Original Oreos



For the white chocolate and raspberry covered oreos, using a chef ring the size of your Oreo mold, draw six circles on the back of the chocolate transfer sheet (I had a mold that fit six Oreos) and cut into six circles. Place a chocolate transfer circle in the bottom of each mold with the printed sugar facing up.

Place 1/2 of the white candy melts into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave at 50% power for 1 minute, then stir well. Continue to microwave for 15 to 30 second intervals, stirring well after each interval, until smooth.

Half fill the molds with melted chocolate and crumble a freeze dried raspberry into each mold. Place a golden Oreo into each mold and press down until the Oreo sits in the centre of the cavity. Cover the oreos with more white chocolate and level the tops of the molds with a silicone spatula.

Pop in the fridge until set (about 10 minutes) then push out of the mold and carefully peel off the transfer sheet.

Follow the same method for making the mint chocolate covered Oreos, leaving out the freeze dried raspberry step.

Serve with coffee and tea at the end of a meal.

Place the balls on a tray lined with baking paper and spray with olive oil being sure to spray olive oil around the entire ball. Bake until outside is golden and inside is piping hot.

Remove from oven and serve with a green salad and shaved fennel.