I have a craving

I've had a bit of a craving for Sushi lately and my very favourite is the Crunchy Prawn Sushi Roll that they have on the menu at the Surf Club at Port Douglas.  So when our lovely friends from Geelong rang us to say that they were in Port and would we like to have lunch with them one day, I begged that we go to the Surf Club.

We love catching up with Lyn and Dave each year as they make their annual migration to the warmer climes of North Queensland.  We met them on our Singapore to Rome cruise in 2019 and straight away just clicked with each other.  They are retirees also and love travelling.  They are mad keen golfers so they always try to incorporate golf into their travels.  Also like us they are wondering if we will ever get to travel overseas again.  We live in hope though and have all booked on a cruise for 2023!

Back to our meal at the Surf Club.  I love his place with its relaxed atmosphere right beside Four Mile Beach.  The food is cafe style food that seems to satisfy most peoples culinary tastes and the meals are good sized.  Lyn is gluten intolerant and we managed to find some tasty choices for her from the extensive menu.  We feasted on Taro Chips with Salsa and Avocado, Fish Tacos, Calamari & Salad, Pork Bao and of course my Crunchy Prawn Sushi Roll. Oh, and let's not forget the inevitable side of fries. We took our time savouring our meal and were surprised when we looked at the time and found that we had sat over our meal for almost three hours.  

The craving for Sushi was still with me this past week so I decided to make my own for a nice and easy Sunday lunch.  Even though sushi are reasonably easy to assemble there is actually a lot of preparation before the assembly process.  The rice has to be cooked the day before and chilled well so that is nice and sticky to ensure the rolls stick together.  Handling the sticky rice is also a little tricky but having a bowl of water beside me seemed to help to spread the rice with my fingers.  After I dotted wasabi over the rice I filled the rolls with small pieces of avocado, cucumber, pickled ginger and smoked salmon.  I didn't have a bamboo mat to roll the sushi but I found a piece of baking paper worked a treat.

The rolls were quite delicious even if I do say so myself and they were the perfect Sunday lunch washed down with a nice glass of bubbles for me and beer for hubby.

A recipe that just works.

I picked up two small crumbed pork rolls stuffed with cream cheese, bacon and spinach when I was at the butcher last week and I was trying to think of an accompaniment.  I knew that the rolls would be filling so a salad was the perfect side.  I happened to stumble on this recipe and with its's hint of moroccan spices and ingredients I thought it would work.  Can I tell you it did work and it will certainly be on high rotation  in this household.  So without further ado may I present........

BABY SPINACH SALAD WITH DATES AND ALMONDS courtesy of https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk

Ingredients:

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1/2 medium red onion thinly sliced

100g pitted Medjool dates, quartered lengthways

30g unsalted butter

2 tbsp olive oil

2 small pitas, about 100g, roughly torn into 4cm pieces (I used small tortillas)

75g whole unsalted almonds, roughly chopped (I used slivered almonds)

2 tsp sumac

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

150g baby spinach leaves

2 tbsp lemon juice 

salt

Method:

Put the vinegar, onion and dates in a small bowl. Add a pinch of salt and mix well with your hands. Leave to marinate for 20 minutes then drain any residual vinegar and discard.

Meanwhile heat the butter and half the olive oil in a medium frying pan. Add the pita and almonds and cook them on a medium heat for 4-6 minutes, stirring all the time until the pita is crunchy and golden brown.  Remove from the heat and mix in the sumac, chilli and 1/4 tsp salt. Set aside to cool.

When you are ready to serve, toss the spinach leaves with the pita mix in a large salad bowl. Add the dates and red onion, remaining olive oil, lemon juice and another pinch of salt. Taste for seasoning and serve immediately.

You could serve this salad with roasted chicken or lamb chops or simply have it on it's own on Meatfree Monday.  Your choice. Enjoy.