Meredith's Something to Eat and Something to Read
A super fast, super delicious prawn and tomato pasta and four cookbooks we all need in our lives.
Meredith Morschel is the woman behind Yamba’s well known and loved kitchen store Kitchen to Table. She’s a cook and teacher and lover and collector of cookbooks. Our kind of person really!
We so appreciate Meredith jumping on board as a sponsor for episodes 2, 3 and four of Something to Eat and Something to Read (click here to listen!). It was a great leap of faith and we are sending the love right back to her here in this newsletter and beyond. And side note - if you’d like to chat about sponsoring a future episode we’d love to hear from you (please just email back).
I (Sophie) have been to Kitchen to Table and it’s not only brimming with every kind of utensil, piece of equipment and cookbook you could ever dream of but her team are equally as passionate and warm as Meredith so you’ll always be looked after above and beyond whether in-store on online.
And also, in non-covid times and the not-too-distant future, Meredith will begin running her culinary tours and cooking classes so keep an eye out if you fancy a trip with good people to good places or an opportunity to learn something new from professionals.
For this newsletter, we asked Meredith to share something to eat and something to read with all of us. So here we go…
Meredith’s Something to eat
Prawn and tomato linguine
A quick and easy dinner using local Yamba prawns (or whatever prawns are local to you!). This sauce is very quick to cook so it is important to have all of the ingredients prepared before you start. Recipe serves 4
350g dried linguine, spaghetti or fettuccine
600g green prawns, shelled, deveined and chopped
150ml olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 red chillies, sliced (or more if you like chilli)
1/2 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
125ml white wine
salt flakes (we love Murray River pink salt flakes, available in-store)
freshly ground pepper
A good handful of flat leaf parsley
1 lemon, zest & juice, optional
Method:
Bring a large pot of water to the boil, add a generous amount of salt to the water. Add the pasta and cook according to the directions on the packet, or until al dente (or just cooked).
Place the garlic, chilli and olive oil in a cold fry pan and bring it up to heat. Once it starts to sizzle, add the prawns, cherry tomatoes and wine, and season well with salt and pepper. Once the prawns have turned pink, add the parsley and mix through. Add lemon zest and juice, if using.
Add the cooked pasta and a little of the pasta water to the prawns and toss to coat. Spoon into serving dishes and serve immediately.
Meredith’s Something to Read
I love cookbooks as they provide joy, ideas and inspiration, and I believe one can never have enough! Here’s four I highly recommend …
1. Mix & Bake - Belinda Jeffery
Belinda Jeffery is someone I really admire ... we have gotten to know each other over the past 6 years as she has presented classes in our shop, and we follow and support each other on Instagram.
Her best-selling book Mix & Bake is a must-have for any baker as it’s filled with interesting and delicious recipes that require basic kitchen equipment - a bowl, whisk, mixing spoon - and easy technique. There’s a good selection of sweet and savoury recipes included in the book, including her famous Flourless Almond and Coconut cake.
My copy has many pages that are splattered with butter, oil or some other ingredient used in the process of making the recipe. Click here to purchase.
2. The Whole Fish Cookbook or Take One Fish - Josh Niland
I saw Josh speak at the Food & Words writers festival in Sydney a couple of years ago and was so impressed with his approach to seafood and his ingenuity to create methods and recipes that use as much of each fish as possible.
I was also in awe when he explained that he had holed himself up in his restaurant for 6 weeks and wrote his international bestseller The Whole Fish, on his iPhone! This drive and determination is impressive and follows through in his restaurant Saint Peter, and his modern fish shop Fish Butchery.
I’m all for reducing food waste and Josh has found delicious, accessible ways to use almost every part of the fish.
These are more technical books but there’s loads of tips on how to cook fish in various ways, such as poaching, grilling, barbecuing, along with delicious recipes.
Either of these books is a must for the fish or seafood lover. Click here to purchase.
3. Flour & Stone - Nadine Ingram
In my dreams I’d love to open a patisserie selling delicious pastries and cakes. Whenever I enter a beautiful bakery or patisserie I feel my heart flutter. However, although I’m a morning person I’m not sure if I’m cut out for the early-morning starts a bakery or patisserie demands.
I was witness to Nadine’s emotion-filled talk at the Food & Words writers festival in 2019 and her experiences, drive and ethos resonated deeply with me.
Her book Flour & Stone features recipes for beautiful and delicious baked goods, many of which you’ll find in her famous bakery in Woolloomooloo, Sydney. Some recipes are more technical, stemming from her many years as a pastry chef in professional kitchens, and others are more approachable for the home baker. Either way, Nadine gently encourages the reader to give all of the recipes a go, her well-written words and instructions providing any guidance one may need.
I especially enjoy reading the stories that preface each chapter which give you an insight into the daily goings-on at the bakery. The introduction to each recipe sets the
tone and has me eager to don my apron and preheat the oven! Click here to purchase.
4. Always Add Lemon - Danielle Alvarez
This book by the head chef of Fred’s restaurant in Paddington, Sydney, champions seasonal ingredients and a farm-to-table approach to cooking. Many years ago when I was on holiday in San Francisco I dined at Cafe Zuni and Chez Panisse, both were outstanding, and Danielle’s food and recipes remind me of these places.
Her recipes and tips will have you cooking and dishing up delicious food for your family and friends. There’s lots of excellent building block recipes for pastry, pickles, bread and cheese which are fantastic to have in your repertoire. Click here to purchase.