The last of summer?

I am not going to get into the study to write this blog every week now that school is back. I am going to try a new approach & do a monthly round up of the things I think you will like the best. It hasn't been the best of weather but we have had a reasonable return from the garden considering. And even a few more outdoor meals. We did all Phoebe's favourites one night. Vegetable skewers - red onion, green & yellow courgette, button mushrooms, capsicum yellow, red, green & orange. Phoebe's all time barbecue favourite is watermelon, red onion, olives, feta & parsley. And she doesn't even like onion, olives or parsley. This really works as a refreshing salad on a hot day. Marinade the red onion in lime juice first to reduce some of the sharpness & bring out the pinkness. Dress with the lime & olive oil to taste. Grind on lots of black pepper.
When you have an abundance of tomatoes don't forget Jamie's Mothership Tomato Salad. This is the best tomato salad in the world. Use as many different colours & shapes as you can. I add a little sugar with the salt to bring out the flavour in the tomatoes. I use my rosemary sugar.


For lamb & kumara lovers we discovered the best lamb salad in an old Cuisine: Lamb salad with spinach kumara & capsicum. We did it for visitors from the UK. I used different types of kumara to give it some variety. If you don't have vincotto maybe try some kind of fruity balsamic.
Another salad which is now firmly in the repertoire is a beef salad with yellow split peas. Cook about 1 1/2 cups yellow split peas in chicken stock until just tender, drain & spread out to cool. Don't overcook or they will turn mushy - I did this the first time & I just froze them to use later as a dip or dahl and started again. It was worth it. Make a dressing in the food processor with 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds, 1/2 cup olive oil, 2 cloves garlic, zest & juice of 1 lemon, small bunch of flat-leaf parsley. Pan grill a piece of sirloin to your liking and after resting cut into cubes. Mix the split peas with diced capsicum, celery & red onion & mix with half the dressing. Drizzle the remaining dressing over the steak & serve side by side on a platter scattered with watercress.
I recently bought some quinces and poached them in an amazing liquor. There are lots of recipes. Give it a go. We used muscat and spices. The colour is incredible. They are very rich and you only need small servings - but delicious.