Raw Kale Salad with Walnuts, Pecorino & Lemon / Pane co' Santi (Saint's Bread) / Roasted Figs

Blog Post & Recipe: Raw Kale Salad with Walnuts, Pecorino and Lemon

Kale is such a resilient leaf it can hold up to the onslaught of olive oil, lemon juice and cheese. In other words: it’s easily corruptible. And that’s what makes a raw kale salad great.

Blog Post & Recipe: Pane co' Santi {Saint's Bread}

The dough itself is a cinch to work with...it's totally the fruit and nuts that make it. Bright bursts of sweetness from the yellow raisins and a triple-nutty punch that comes not just from the pecans and walnuts, but also seems to emanate from the olive oil that they were sautéed in.

Blog Post & Recipe: roasted figs

The heat of roasting brings the dried figs back to life. Some of them will puff up to form almost perfect globes. The honey and oil mixture gives them a thick, shiny gloss that hardens slightly as the figs cool. They come out of the oven looking like something you want to put on a Christmas tree.

8 Rice Puddings / Eggplant & Rapini Meatball Subs / Fennel & Walnut Pie

Recipes: Today Is National Rice Pudding Day

Here are some of our favorite rice pudding recipes to make at home.

Double Coconut Rice Pudding
Chamomile Rice Pudding with Tea-Soaked Raisins
Coconut Mango Rice Pudding
Simple Rice Pudding
Miss Ina's Down-Home Rice Pudding
Purple Rice Pudding in Coconut Milk
Tibetan Rice Pudding
Jasmine Rice Pudding

Recipe: Eggplant & Rapini Meatball Subs

This seems like an insane amount of work for what is basically a sandwich but it is worth it, I swear. The meatballs bake for roughly the same time it takes to fry the eggplant so everything is hot, crisp and delicious at the same time.

Blog Post & Recipe: fennel

One was sliced super-thin and tossed with champagne vinegar, though cider vinegar is just as good, and drizzled with a real throat-catcher of an extra virgin olive oil. I wolfed the whole thing down, a hunk of bread chasing the dressing around the plate for lunch. Three more went in to a favourite dish of braised fennel not unlike this version, and the other two went into this rather incredible pie.

fennel and walnut pie

Garam Masala Roasted Halibut in a Tomato Curry Sauce / Oven Roasted Vegetable Curry / Gravadlax, Beetroot & Walnut Salad

Blog Post & Recipe: Garam Masala Roasted Halibut in a Tomato Curry Sauce

In this dish the fish, I chose halibut, is coated in a simple "curry powder" consisting of garam masala and turmeric and roasted in the oven. The roasted halibut is then served on a very simple and yet tasty tomato curry sauce.

Recipe: Oven Roasted Vegetable Curry

I remembered the recipe because I thought it such a good idea to roast the vegetables to concentrate the flavours then add the sauce, so I took it further and continued to cook the sauce and finish the dish in the oven. So easy, so good.

Blog Post& Recipe: Gravadlax

A bunch of multicoloured beetroot was roasted so that its flavour intensified ... Toasted walnuts were given an extra oomph with the use of walnut oil in the dressing and curls of gravadlax draped on top

Gravadlax, Beetroot & Walnut Salad

Creamed Parsnips with Roasted Winter Vegetables & Walnuts / Mashed Potato Pizza Dough / Nian Gao

Recipe: Jane Baxter's creamed parsnips with roasted winter vegetables and walnuts recipe

The parsnip also works well as a dip, while the dressing is fab on ­summer veg – try fennel or green beans.

Blog Post & Recipe: Pizza for the Working Woman

The recipe for pizza dough came from Maybelle’s Mom. It had wholemeal flour, wheat germ and mashed potato.

Wholemeal Mashed Potato Pizza Dough

Blog Post & Recipe: Nian Gao (tikoy), a Chinese New Year tradition

Nian gao is made with glutinous rice flour, sometimes steamed and, at other times, cooked in a pan and stirred until thick. It may be savory or sweetened. How it is served varies from region to region. It may simply be pan fried, stir fried with meat and vegetables, dropped into soups or made into a pudding.

Walnut Miso Noodles. Pantry Staples. Oven Cleaning.

Article: 10 pantry staples to keep your family fed on a budget

1. Rice is the most versatile staple ...

Blog Post & Recipe: Walnut Miso Noodles Recipe

I made a quick, creamy walnut-miso dressing and used it coat whole wheat noodles, plenty of sliced asparagus, the neon chard stems, and a few other ingredients I had within reach. I was quite hungry or I might have taken the time to top off with a poached egg or two.

Article: More Adventures in Oven Cleaning

We tried the self-cleaning feature, which you can read about here. Now we're trying that age-old trick of baking soda paste. To be honest, we always read "Just baking soda and salt!" and think, "Yeah, right."

Watching the Oscars

Recipe: Caramel popcorn choc tops

Recipes: Academy Awards Cocktail Party

* Black Pepper–Manchego
Cheese Puffs
* Broiled Mussels with Sweet Paprika Aioli
* Roasted Rosemary Walnuts
* Olive-Parsley Dip with Crudités
* Orange Marmalade Truffles
* The Academy Sparkler

Article & Recipes: Snackin' with Oscar

But for this special evening, Bench plans to pump up the popcorn with some glitz and glam with ingredients such as cocoa, freeze-dried apples and smoked paprika. Not all together, of course, but Bench says she loves using her imagination when it comes to popcorn ...

Chocolate Malt ... Apple Cinnamon ... Sweet Chili ... Barbecue ... Butterscotch ... Red Carpet Fizz (flavoured champagne)

Cilantro Sauce. Leeks. Eastern and Central European Cooking

Recipe: Cilantro Sauce adds Flavour to Rice.

Article: How to prepare leeks.

Question
I love the taste of leeks in cooking but am never sure when using leeks myself what part is to be used?
— Libby

Article/Recipe: The Eastern and Central European Kitchen: Contemporary and Classic Recipes.

A book review with links to three recipes.

The author has kindly shared these recipes:

* Uszka - Polish dumplings with Mushroom filling
* georgian meatballs with pine nuts and sour cherries
* prune and walnut cheesecake