Longer sunny days signal a welcome return to relaxed outdoor entertaining.
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Menu
Tropical Fruit & Nut Toffee Brie
Marinated & Seared Whole Eye Fillet
Citrus Noodle Salad
Mango & Avocado Salad
Lime & Macadamia Tart
Vanilla & Ginger Ice Cream
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Work plan:
Tropical Fruit and Nut Toffee Brie
This pre-dinner snack looks fabulous and, apart from simmering some sugar, requires no cooking.
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1 large brie (about 20cm diameter, or use several smaller bries)
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½ cup unsalted mixed nuts (eg Brazil, macadamia, pistachio, almond, cashew)
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1 cup mixed dried tropical fruits (eg mango, ginger, pineapple)
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1 cup sugar
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½ cup cold water |
Place the brie on a serving platter and decorate top with nuts and dried fruit.
Place the sugar and water in a heavy-based medium saucepan over a moderate to high heat. Allow syrup to come to the boil. Do not stir, just swirl or rock the pan once or twice to distribute the heat. Cook until toffee is golden brown, rocking pan to distribute colour evenly, then immediately pour the toffee over decorated cheese. Allow toffee to harden (this will take just a few minutes) and serve with a selection of plain cracker biscuits. Serves 8
Marinated and Seared Whole Eye Fillet
Roll out the barbecue or bake this in the oven. Either way, begin the preparation at least four hours ahead to allow time for the meat to marinate.
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- 1 trimmed eye fillet of beef (about 1.5kg)
- 2 tablespoons each: mirin, olive oil, sesame oil
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 thumb ginger, grated (about 1 tablespoon)
- 1 tablespoon flaky sea salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Salad greens for serving
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Line a baking pan with a long strip of plastic wrap and lay beef on top. Combine mirin, olive and sesame oils and drizzle over meat. Massage into meat using your hands. Combine garlic, ginger, salt and pepper and spread over fillet, turning the meat to coat all sides. Wrap beef securely in the plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 4 hours – overnight if possible – turning the meat once or twice during this time.
Before cooking, bring beef to room temperature. Preheat oven to 220°C.
Remove fillet from plastic wrap. Heat a heavy-based pan or barbecue and sear the fillet on all sides. Return fillet to the baking pan and bake for 20-30 minutes (beef should be rare). Remove from oven, cover meat loosely with a piece of foil and allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving. Slice the meat into 1cm-thick slices and serve on a bed of salad greens. Serves 8
Citrus Noodle Salad
Zingy Asian flavours, fresh herbs and cashew nuts make this salad a winner.
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- 400-500g thin egg noodles
- 2 oranges, juice and finely grated zest
- 4 limes, juice and finely grated zest
- 2 tablespoons each: brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil
- 4 tablespoons each: olive oil, soy sauce
- 3 red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
- 6 spring onions, finely chopped
- 1 cup combined coriander, mint and basil leaves, coarsely chopped
- ¾ cup cashew nuts, lightly roasted and coarsely chopped
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Cook noodles to the packet instructions until just tender. Drain and rinse under cold water, drizzle with a little extra olive oil, toss and set aside.
In a bowl combine orange and lime juice and zest, sugar, vinegar, sesame and olive oils, soy sauce and chillies.
Place noodles in a large serving bowl and toss through the dressing with spring onions, herbs and nuts. Serve promptly (leftovers will still taste good the next day but the nuts will soften and the herbs may discolour a little). Serves 8
Mango and Avocado Salad
Sweet, fragrant mangoes are fabulous in a summer salad. If fresh ones aren’t available use tinned fruit, but avoid any that are mushy.
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1 iceberg lettuce
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3 large ripe mangoes
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3 large firm but ripe avocados
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1 medium red onion, finely diced
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2 tablespoons each: chopped mint and coriander
Dressing:
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Combine dressing ingredients and set aside. Remove and discard outer leaves from lettuce and finely slice the firm heart. Place on a serving dish.
Peel mango and avocado and cut flesh into 1cm cubes. Place in a bowl with onion and herbs. Drizzle over half the dressing and toss gently.
Arrange mango mixture over lettuce and drizzle over remaining dressing. Serve promptly so everything is crisp and fresh. Serves 8
Lime and Macadamia Tart
A lime custard pie with macadamias in both the filling and pastry and a scoop of Vanilla and Ginger Ice Cream on the side is tropical heaven on a plate..
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Pastry:
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¼ cup coarsely chopped raw
macadamias
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185g flour
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3 tablespoons icing sugar
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1 lime, finely grated zest
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125g cold butter, cubed
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3-4 tablespoons ice-cold water
Filling:
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4 eggs plus 2 extra yolks (reserve
1 leftover white for sealing pastry)
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¾ cup caster sugar
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200ml cream
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½ cup raw macadamias, finely chopped
in a food processor
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3 limes, juice from all 3 and finely grated
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zest from 2 |
Pastry: Place macadamias in a food processor and process until quite finely chopped. Add flour, icing sugar, zest and butter and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. With motor running, add the water a tablespoon at a time until mixture just forms a dough. Wrap in plastic and chill 30 minutes.
Filling: Preheat oven to 175°C. Beat eggs, extra yolks and sugar until sugar dissolves (do not over-beat). Stir in cream, nuts, juice and zest.
Roll out pastry to line a greased 26cm loose-bottomed flan tin. Roughly trim pastry, allowing an excess to hang over lip. Prick base well with a fork and bake 10-15 minutes until starting to colour.
Reduce oven temperature to 160°C. Beat reserved egg white until frothy. Brush over base and use a sharp knife to trim pastry level with top of tin. Return to oven for 2 minutes then pour filling into base and bake 35-40 minutes or until just set and a rich caramel colour.
Serve tart at room temperature, dusted with icing sugar and with a scoop of Vanilla and Ginger Ice Cream on the side. The tart can be made the day before it is needed and stored in an airtight container. Serves 8
Vanilla and Ginger Ice Cream
This has an excellent creamy texture that is achieved without any churning.
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- 3 eggs, separated
- ¼ cup plus 4 tablespoons caster sugar
- 300ml cream
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 vanilla pods
- 3 tablespoons chopped preserved ginger
- 2 tablespoons syrup from preserved ginger jar
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Beat egg whites to soft peaks. Add the ¼ cup caster sugar and beat to stiff peaks.
In another bowl, beat the cream with 1 tablespoon of the extra caster sugar until lightly whipped.
Place egg yolks in a third bowl with remaining 3 tablespoons caster sugar, the ground ginger and the seeds scraped from the vanilla pods and beat until mixture is thick and creamy.
Gently fold egg yolk and egg white mixtures together then fold in whipped cream. Fold through the chopped ginger and ginger syrup. Pour mixture into a 2-litre freezer-safe container. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and freeze overnight.
Remove container from the freezer 5 minutes before serving with the Lime and Macadamia Tart. Ice cream can be made up to a week in advance. Makes 1.5 litres, serves 8
Tea towels, napkins, wooden salad servers, large white platters and bowls from Acland Holdings, (09) 630 6177; crockery, cutlery, champagne flutes and steel salad servers from Freedom, (09) 443 3199; cushions, tray and blue platter from Forma, (09) 368 7694; tea lights and matching white vase, coral, jewellery, clothing and glass plates from Republic Home, (09) 361 1137; mugs from Living & Giving, (09) 846 6999; beige bowl stylist’s own; flowers from the National Flowers Promotion Group. A special thank you to Sharda Robertson.
Story: Bernadette Hogg
Photographs: Melanie Jenkins
Stylist: Claudia Kozub
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