Because itās rare for it to be truly hot in Tasmania, I was very enthusiastic about the last weeks of summer. Many iced lattes were ordered, favourite t-shirts worn and meals were kept simple (Iām loving Julia Busuttil Nishimuraās overnight oats). But there were three constants: granola breakfast cookies, baked salmon dinners (three different kinds!) and a very good chocolate truffle bar.
Leslieās granola breakfast cookies
If you loved the muesli bars in this edition, or these fruit juice jellies, chances are youāll be a fan of these granola cookies too.Ā I take them to work, pack them for road trips and for post-swim snacks.
The recipe comes from Morning Person, a newsletter by Leslie Stephens that I love waking up to every Wednesday morning. Itās the kind of recipe I immediately wanted to send to friends, so Iām excited to republish it here with permission. Leslieās recipe and notes below. I always add the choc chips!
You will need:
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cups raw pecans, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup hulled raw pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup hulled raw sunflower seeds
1/3 cup unsweetened coconut chips
1 ripe banana (the riper the better!)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup maple syrup, or to taste (this yields lightly sweetened cookies that pair well with coffee)
2 tablespoon almond butter, optional (if omitting, also omit the additional 2 tablespoons flour)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose or spelt flour, plus 2 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Optional: 1/4 cup chopped dates or semi-sweet chocolate chips for additional sweetness
To make them:
Preheat oven to 180Ā°C.
In a medium bowl, combine the āgranolaā ingredients: rolled oats, pecans, seeds, and coconut chips.
In a large bowl, mash the banana with a fork, then add the olive oil, maple syrup, almond butter, and vanilla extract. Stir until just combined, then stir in the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Finally, mix in the granola ingredients and add in chopped dates and chocolate chips, if using.
Wet your hands and use a spoon to add roughly 4cm balls to a baking sheet about 5cm apart. Bake until lightly browned, about 10 to 12 minutes. Allow to cool then transfer to a wire rack and enjoy! Dip āem in coffee, eat them with bites of almond butter or a hazenut-chocolate spread, sprinkle them over yoghurt and berries.
Three great salmon dinners
Iām going through a sushi rice and salmon phase after reading about Molly Yehās weekly shop.
Iāve shared this recipe before but it is worth highlighting again ā Eric Kimās Doenjang salmon bowls (NYT Cooking gift link) are so, so easy. You marinate diced salmon in the morning and roast them on a tray with onion at night. I even sent it to my brother who has a little one, itās that easy. We eat ours with all the recommended sides ā salted seaweed (gim), kimchi and rice.
If teriyaki is more your thing, try this recipe from nutritionist Heidi Sze. Itās an oven-baked meal that can be made with chicken or salmon.
The recipe I made the most last month was another one from Heidi and one of the very first I commissioned for ABC Everyday, where I work. Itās a baked fish and chip recipe with a quick kale salad and outstanding spiced potato wedges.
Biang Biang noodles
Iām yet to find Biang Biang noodles where I live and I miss them. Luckily, my brother and his wife have a recipe they perfected in lockdown and made when they visited last year. For some reason I thought it was more of a weekend/project meal, but Iām happy to report it can be fast!
Hand-ripped noodles are fun and forgiving and you can boil bok choy briefly before the noodles cook. I made the tomato and egg sauce from this video and stir-fried some pork mince too.
Iām slowly learning to cook Chinese food at home and love that there are more and more cookbooks out there. There is something very meaningful about seeing meals I grew up with documented in blogs and books.
The last of the summer tomatoes
I grew heirloom tomatoes! Well, my friend Larry planted them the weekend we moved in and has coached me to water, stake and fertilise them. She even built a fence around the seedlings to keep the mini kangaroo/wallabies out and now Iām picking tomatoes most days.
Tony made this delicious Nigel Slater pasta with a blitzed tomato and basil sauce (it uses shells to catch all the sauce, yum). Iām going to make Annabel Crabbās tomato salad spaghetti tonight.
Banana snacking cake with salted caramel icing
I spotted this cake on Eric Kimās Instagram and therefore had to try! Itās a one-bowl banana cake by Melissa Clark (NYT Cooking gift link) and the salted caramel icing reminds me of sticky date pudding.Ā
Thereās something so nice about baking a cake on a weekend afternoon. Last year we moved house twice and whenever I was in the middle of packing or unpacking, Iād daydream about doing just that.
Tiny kitchen updates & other good things
The kitchen in my new house is cosy, so Iāve been figuring out how to make more bench space. So far Iāve made two small updates and I wish Iād used them in past rentals! Our knife block has been swapped for an in-drawer organiser. And we got this organiser for the pantry door for baking paper and paper towel.Ā
I love the spirit of Sarah Copelandās yes-day/week of dinners for times when itās hard to wrap your head around cooking or knowing what you might like to eat.
I caved and tried this pretty chocolate from Byron Bay and it is good. Hazelnut praline is my favourite flavour so far and Iām super keen to try the salted caramel shortbread.
Lastly, Iāve been borrowing new release cookbooks from the library. Iād been eyeballing Carterās Cookbook 2 only for it to show up in my letterbox as a gift from Kim š„² Very excited to try the apricot chicken.