Dinner plans

One Friday night, after an exceptionally busy week, I was lying on the floor of our spare room mindlessly scrolling through Instagram when I remembered some advice from a friend. At the time I was hungry, a little delirious and trying to decide whether it quicker to get takeaway or make gozleme as planned at home.

I chose the latter and instead of texting Tony to see when he might be home, I took my friend Marina's relationship advice and called to say 'help!' instead. Her advice is good - it's about not expecting your partner to read your mind.

Tony was back within half an hour and we started making gozleme together and catching up on our days. It was a good reminder to cook together more often, instead of divvying it up during the week.

We made Hetty McKinnon's kale, mint and haloumi gozleme, which looked like giant dumplings! They brown slowly on the stove, which meant that by the time dinner was ready, the washing up was already done too :)

The perfect Sunday dinner

Every now and then I want to roast a chicken on a Sunday night. It's usually a sign that things have been busier than usual, and that comfort food is needed. This salt and pepper roast chicken is super easy and delicious. It comes from The New York Times and food blogger Molly Yeh described it as a magical recipe on Radio Cherry Bombe because all you do is season the chicken the night before and then roast it.

I happened to make mine right after watching the Heat episode of Salt, Fat, Acid Heat. So I took the chicken out of the fridge an hour or so before cooking, to let it come to room temperature, and cooked it with the drumsticks facing the back and it came out super tender, with extra-crispy skin. Success!

It accidentally became an awesome dinner because I also needed to make Hetty McKinnon's roast caprese salad before the weekend was up. I'd commissioned the recipe for ABC Life, and always try them before they're published, because it helps with the editing process.

While the meal feels fancy, I made the salad in the afternoon, as part of my regular Sunday lunch prep for the week and then  assembled it at the last minute, while the chicken was cooling. Buying mozzarella always makes me cringe (it costs a bomb!) but it made the salad hearty enough that we could just eat it with the chicken, no potatoes needed.

Finally, dessert. Crumble is one of my all time favourite comfort foods and this one is extra special. I am lucky enough to work with Thalia Ho, who writes a beautiful baking blog Butter & Brioche. She writes a monthly baking column for ABC Life.

When we were brainstorming recipes earlier this year, I mentioned an amazing summer crumble I had on the last night of a south coast holiday. It couldn't remember exactly what was in it, only the fruit was lighter than usual and that it was floral.

Thalia came up with this pear and blueberry crumble with earl grey tea leaves and lemon zest mixed into the topping. I thought my sister-in-law's apple crumble was the only recipe I'd ever need in that department, but this one is crazy good. The pear goes super soft, and the filling goes a deep purple colour as the blueberries cook. It was also a good excuse to buy some take away vanilla ice cream from the gelato shop in town.

We've just figured out that Christmas will be spent in Canberra this year, with my whole family visiting! Every now and then I think about what we might eat, and this whole dinner is an option in my mind. Maybe with Christmas cake at the end instead of crumble. In any case, I highly recommend all three dishes individually - and eaten together, you'll probably go to bed very happy.

Dinner plans

What's on the menu at your place this week? We've just come back from a weekend away, so we're keeping it simple. I'm making taco bowls for dinner tonight, we'll see a friend for pizza and gelato on Tuesday (yay!), grab some bolognese from the freezer midweek which will see us through to Friday when it's Tony's turn to cook.

For lunches, I'm four weeks into roasting veggies for a work lunches on a Sunday. We used to take turns making sandwiches on weeknights but I find veggie bowls heaps easier to pack and less fussy too. Plus, Sunday afternoon is a nice time to potter around and listen to podcasts while making some food.

This week we'll have honeyed carrots, miso eggplant, and spiced zucchini with quinoa with some spinach leaves and maybe a boiled egg :) There will also be bircher muesli for the mornings we're going straight to work from yoga.

I've also been a super dag and made a weekly shopping list template in my phone that I copy and paste into my notes every week. It's got the basics, so I just need to add any special ingredients we need for the week ahead.

Last but not least - pasta. Here are two pastas I'd love to eat soon - this super satisfying creamy tortellini and a mac and cheese that my friend May rates from Molly Yeh. I also thought I'd share the recipe for a massive bolognese I made recently. My brother sent me Giorgio Locatelli's cookbook Made in Italy for my birthday, specifically so I could try the bolognese recipe. I made it last weekend and it's really good and makes bolognese for days (or 16!).

Have a good week, whatever your plans!

Real Girl Kitchens: Sarah Malone

I'm excited to bring you the second instalment of Real Girl Kitchens, this time featuring my friend Sarah Malone. Sarah grew up in Canberra and was one of the first people I really clicked with when I moved to the city last year. She knows all the best local things to do and eat, has great advice on surviving the seasons, and is always listening to a fun podcast.

Sarah and I work in the same office and I love finding out what she's having for dinner. Her meals always sound cosy, nourishing and delicious. Today she shares the recipe for a favourite pie, what she's craving during her first pregnancy, plus how she came to have her own pudding recipe.  I'll let her take it from here:

Real Girl Kitchens: Carla Gee

I love finding out what people are having for dinner, so I thought I'd give the Real Girl Wardrobes series a twist, and spend some time asking women I admire about their favourite things to make and eat.

First up is my sister Carla. She's a writer, podcaster, illustrator and an amazing mum. She shares her thoughts on cooking for kids, what podcasts she listens to in the kitchen, and the recipe for an impressive no-bake birthday cake.

Easy cheese pizza

My friend Liz taught me a clever trick last week. If you make your pizza dough before work and stick it in the fridge, it's ready to roll as soon as you get home. Simple but genius, right?

I love Donna Hay's basic pizza dough, and normally top it with sliced baby bocconcini, shredded mozzarella, chilli flakes and fresh basil. It makes the yummiest cheese pizza. You can tell when it's ready when you can smell it - about 20 minutes.

Every now and then I'll make up a big batch of pizza sauce on a Sunday and stick it in the freezer. Lunch Lady has an easy recipe that's basically passata, tinned tomatoes, olive oil and garlic cloves, simmered for as long as you can. It makes a decent pasta sauce too.

We still have lots of pumpkin in the house, so this week I'm going to make a pumpkin, fetta and caramelised onion pizza with fresh rocket. Have a good week :)

Yummy weekday dinners

Do you know what homemade dinners mean? More chances of taking leftovers for lunch the next day and therefore more time to sleep in. Yay! I've shared a few of these recipes before but here's what we've been making again and again:

Super quick (as in faster than take away)
Apricot and balsamic chicken
Eggs in purgatory puttanesca style

Minimal effort (and really satisfying)
Roast tomato and garlic pasta
Creamy tortellini with prosciutto and peas
Seared broccoli soup (which is extra good if your friend brings you special garlic dip all the way from Sydney to slather on your bread)

Tony and I both cook but we've recently worked out that some days suit us better than others. Tony prefers not to cook on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, ahead of his teaching days. I never feel like cooking on a Friday, which is a big deadline day for me and having Monday off makes it feel like it's still the weekend. We loosely divvy things up that way with a back up meal in the freezer or a big batch of something that we've cooked on Sunday, which brings me to..

Extra yummy Sunday food
Vegetarian lasagne (Tony makes the best one from this book - sadly it is not online)
Spaghetti bolognese
Pumpkin soup (My Ruth Reichl obsession continues, I use a very easy recipe from this book)
Homemade pizza and an extra big batch of pizza sauce to freeze for later or have over ravioli
And bread for the week (half of which I'm sure gets eaten hot with lots of Nutella)

P.S A fun podcast about what to cook when you really don't feel like it plus Nigella's quick chilli which was recommended to me this week as I admired someone else's lunch at work. I haven't made it yet but let me know if you do!

Three rainy day pastas

We ate pasta on Valentine's Day,  a big bowl of lamb bolognese with spaghetti each to be specific and it was great. Most years, my birthday meal is a pasta too. If you share my love of pasta, I reckon you'll like these three recipes, they're easy to make and delicious.

1. Donna Hay's slow-cooked beef ragu

I have a soft spot for tomatoey pastas and this is one of my favourites. It's birthday-dinner worthy. My friend Angie introduced me to this recipe while I was staying with her late last year and I've made it so many times since! It's a really good one to cook for new parents because it's rich, comforting and easy to transport. Also you're actively cooking for about 15 minutes and the oven does the rest.

I use beef cheeks (which are often called ox cheeks) for this dish. You don't need to worry about trimming the fat from the meat because you can pull it off easily after it comes out of the oven.

2. Joy the Baker's one-pot french onion pasta

If I'm cooking for vegetarians, I make this dish using a vegetable-based chicken stock (if that makes sense) like the Massel brand. I made this pasta just last week and it's so yummy, and kind of genius how it all cooks in one pot. This is a great one for a simple dinner party, where you can have it on the stove, make a few sides and not fuss too much in the kitchen.

3. Smitten Kitchen's tomato sauce with butter and onion

My sister sent this recipe to me years ago, and we've been making it ever since. I'm a big fan of Smitten Kitchen recipes and this one is a reliable last-minute dinner, with simple ingredients that you probably already have at home. The butter is an excellent addition.

P.S - My most favourite places to go out for pasta are Italian & Sons in Canberra, A Tavola and Fratelli Fresh in Sydney (or Buon Ricordo if it's a special occasion) and Mates Gully Organics in Wagga Wagga.