Mother's Day

If you're thinking of making a special Mother's Day meal - here are some beautiful ideas to inspire you.xx

Easter is one of my favourite times of the year, and a great time to catch up with friends and indulge little ones. With a slight chill in the air, I like to put on warming autumn feasts for dinner with friends. In my book Food, Fashion, Friends there are a number of recipes perfect for this time of year that will have everyone coming back for more.

For a casual option, especially good for a small group happy to eat while lounging around an open fire, this Herbed Pecorino Macaroni is a childhood comfort food favourite given a grown-up spin…

Herbed Pecorino Macaroni

300g macaroni

625 ml (2 1/2 cup) milk

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs thyme

3 peppercorns

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons plain flour

40 g (1 1/2 cup) grated parmesan

1 tablespoon chopped chevril, plus extra to garnish

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

20 g goat's cheese

Cook the macaroni in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water util al dente.

combine the milk, bay leaf, thyme and peppercorns in a small saucepan and bring just to the boil.  Turn off the heat and allow the mixture to infuse for 30 minutes. Discard teh herbs.Preheat the overn to 180c. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, sprinkle over the flour and cook, stirring contiunously, for 1-2minutes, or until the flour starts to brown.  Slowly whisk in the infused milk until well combined. Continue to stir for 4-6 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Stir in teh macaroni, pecorino, chevril and nutmeg.

Spoon the macaroni into six 250 ml (1 cup) capacity dishes and crumble over teh goat's cheese. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts and turns golden.  Serve garnished with chervil. (serves 6)

For something more substantial, this Roast Pork Rack with Whole Baked Apples is perfect paired with Brussels Sprout Salad with Pancetta. If only our parents had had this Brussels sprout recipe when we were young.

Roast Pork Rack With Whole Baked Apples

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

1 tablespoon seasalt

1 tablespoon olive oil

2kg pork rack (8bones), scored

2 red onions, peeled and cut in half across the middle

1 bulb of garlic, cut in half across the middle

30g butter, melted

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 granny smith apples

200ml white wine

120ml veal stock

Preheat the oven to 200 (degrees). Grind the fennel and salt in a mortar and pestle. Rub the oil into the pork skin and then the salt mixture. Place the onion and garlic in a large roasting tin and sit the pork on top. Roast for 20-25 minutes or until the skin is brown and crisp. Reduce the heat to 180 (degrees) and cook for a further 20 minutes.

Combine the butterand cinnamon in a small bowl. Use a small sharp knife to score the apples around the centre - this will stop them exploding. place them around the pork in the roasting tin. Pour the butter mixture over the apples and cook for 20-25 minutes or untill the apples are softand the juices from the pork run clear when the meat is pierced with a skewer. Remove the apples and pork from the tin and cover with foil to keep warm.

Place the roasting tin over two burners and scrape with a wooden spoon to release the good bits stuck to the bottom. Pour inthe white wine and boil for 1-2 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Strain the liquid into a saucepan, add the stock and bring to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes while you carve the pork.

Serve the pork with the cinnamon-butter apples, brussel sprout salad and pumpkin wedges (see recipes opposite), with the white-wine sauce poured over the top. (Serves 6)

If you don’t want to just buy into the whole chocolate egg scenario for the littlies but still want to give them a treat that will satisfy their visual needs as much as their sweet teeth, these Marshmallow Biscuits can be made in an egg shape and decorated at your whim.

Marshmallow Biscuits

150g marshmallows

1 tablespoon boiling water

15 milk arrowroot or other sweet biscuits

assorted sprinkles to decorate

Place the marshmallows and boiling water in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water (making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch). Heat, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes or until melted. Using a metal spatula, spread the melted marshmallow over the top of the biscuits. Decorate with sprinkles, to serve

And for adults who still enjoy a sweet treat, you can similarly make these Minted Dark Chocolate Truffles and just roll into an egg shape so you can get that Easter feeling.

Minted Dark Chocolate Truffles

1 bunch of mint

110g (1/2 cup) caster sugar, plus 1 tablespoon extra

250ml (1cup) cream

500g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces

1 egg white, lightly whisked

Dry the mint well with a paper towel. Place the mint (reserving about 8-10 leaves to garnish) and the sugar into a food processor and blend for 4-5 minutes or until the mixture resembles fine green sugar. Leave uncovered to dry.

Heat the cream in a large saucepan and bring just to the boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate. Continue to stir untill the mixture is thick and well combined. (if the chocolate has not completely melted, return the pan to the stove over a gentle heat and stir to combine.) Transfer the mixture to a bowl and chill in the fridge for 2 hours. Line two trays with baking paper. Dip the reserved mint leaves into the egg white, then transfer to one of the trays and dust with the extra sugar. Leave to set for 20 minutes.

Remove the chocolate mixture from the fridge and, working quickly, take out 1 tablespoon at a time and use the palm of your hand to form a ball. Place on the other prepared tray. Dust the truffles with the mint sugar and roll untill well coated. Allow to set for 10 minutes, then serve on a plate, garnished with the sugared mint leaves. (serves 24)

Happy Easter - I hope you enjoy it with your loved ones.

7 For All Mankind

As much as I love putting on a beautiful silk dress, sometimes you can’t go past a great pair of jeans when you need to be running around all day. Something comfortable that fits like a glove and only gets better with age. 7 For All Mankind jeans have long been a favourite of mine, and I’m so happy to again be stocking them in my stores around the country. The Slim Straight style is denim perfection. As their name would suggest, they’re slim fitting without being too tight, and they finish just above the ankle, so look great either with white canvas plimsolls and a tee for market fossicking on a Saturday, or with heels and a silk blouse for a weekend lunch.  And they look just worn-in enough. But if you do like that super-skinny fit, the Roxanne Original Skinny in this dark indigo shade will answer your denim dreams.  

Our staff have been specially trained to fit 7 For All Mankind, so come in store for a denim consultation and find your perfect jeans.

Also check out 7 For All Mankind's new marketing campaign directed and starring James Franco: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=atPE7ERKWDo

CHISWICK

I was lucky enough to work with Matt Moran on my book, Food Fashion Friends, and luckily for all of us, he has opened a new restaurant. I was excited to go to the opening of Chiswick on Tuesday night. It’s at the former Prunier’s site in Woollahra, I love the new fit-out, and most importantly the food. Matt and his business partner Peter Sullivan have included a kitchen garden on the site, where they will grow a lot of the produce they use in their dishes.

Chiswick is all about fresh produce, grown and sourced locally, and shared with friends the ideal combination for cooking, entertaining and eating out.  I’m really looking forward to going back with a group of friends for a long Sunday lunch to try more of his delicious food.

The veal sliders were scrumptious, but even more delectable were the caramel éclairs – the best I've ever had (and i've had a few, especially when in Paris).

Even better, Matt and the team will soon start posting some of their delicious recipes on their website http://www.chiswickrestaurant.com.au/  so that you can make them at home. That’s the sort of sharing I like.

CHISWICK

65 Ocean Street

Woolhara

NSW 2025

Tel: 02 8388 8688

Small Spaces

There’s a real move towards living more simply, that’s also tied in with leaving less of a footprint behind us. One part of this is living in smaller spaces, with fewer possessions, but those possessions are made to last, from beautiful materials. My good friend Sarah recently opened a shop in Surry Hills called, appropriately, smallspaces. A lot of the furniture and storage solutions come from Denmark and also Japan, where living in small spaces is a constant. There’s a certain minimalism at play in what Sarah has chosen for her shop, but also quirky, fun little touches and some great artworks. One idea is that the few pieces you have should be multifunctional, so there are side tables that double as stools, and ottomans that can also be used as side tables. Whether your space is small or not, you’ll find something beautiful to take home with you.

smallspaces, 674 Bourke St, Redfern; (02) 8399 3144
www.small-spaces.com.au 

Indigo In The Air

Our wonderful buyer and visual merchandiser, Dani, discovered this beautiful range of jewellery called Indigo In The Air, created by expat Sydneysider Micaela Nisbet. The range uses raw crystals and sterling silver to create chunky, one-of-a-kind rings. Of course, being crystals, they also carry their own unique energies, which I love. The crystals include citrine, smokey quartz and amethyst as well as more obscure ones such as white apophyllite and pink stilbite. I think they are a great complement to my current winter range, which has just started dropping in store.
www.indigointheair.com

The Winner of our Valentine's Day Competition is...

My most romantic moment has to be my boyfriend’s wedding proposal. We were holidaying in the South of France and he had secretly smuggled the ring in his suitcase and snuck it out to the pool with us one day. While I wasn’t looking he started to recite some French travel phrases, absolutely butchering them with his strong Aussie accent. He kept repeating a certain phrase over and over and saying “do you know what that means?” while I tried to block out his rambling. Eventually I turned around to see him kneeling with a ring, to which he finally managed “it means ‘will you marry me?’” Of course I said yes and we are getting married in 2 weeks, and I will be wearing Fleur Wood’s incredible Blushing Crinoline wedding dress!

Congratulations Ursula, you are the winner of our Valentine's Day Competiton.  A second congratulations is in order, for your upcoming wedding.  We hope you have a very special day.

Thank you to everybody who entered our competition we had an amazing response and lots of really great entries which made it a very tough decision. 

Wishing everyone a very Happy Valentine's Day.