Thanks to all of you who came to support us on stage yesterday as we cooked some delicious ‘Mid week inspiration’ dishes from the Relish Mama cookbook.

I stand in front of people many days each week to teach but yesterday was a little different given there was 200 plus sets of eyes looking back at me and my heart definitely raced a little faster. I knew so many of you in the crowd and that was definitely a little weird and freaky when I first looked up but then it was truly heart warming. Last night, Michael and I sat outside and he asked me how I thought it all went and I asked him too in return (as he was a member of the audience). He said he felt so proud of the business that we have built and that the show of love and support was something very beautiful. He said it overwhelmed him how many people fronted up to be there. I couldn’t have put it better myself.

You all know that I am a softie but can I just tell you how much it means that you took some precious hours out of your Sunday to come and show you care and that you support us and that you love and support this business with a very big heart.

Special mentions : A big thanks to my darling daughter Grace who had the courage (at 12 years young) to get up on stage and cook with her Mum. I was so proud of you honey. To Cindy (one of our lovely customers) for allowing me to put you on the spot as I saw you in the front row and also come and cook on stage with so many familiar faces. You were wonderful Cindy. To my dear friend Annie – thanks for always being so willing to lend a hand. 

Here are the recipes shared yesterday on stage that I would love to share with you here too and give you a little more ‘Mid week inspiration’.

With love & thanks,

Nellie

The following recipes are from The Relish Mama cookbook and copyright Nellie Kerrison. 

Thanks to Lucienne Hemingway (Curious by design) for the styling & the wonderful Tamara Erbacher for the wonderful photographs. 

Ham and gruyere cheese omelette

Serves 4

If you have beautifully fresh eggs in the fridge, you can have a truly cracking meal in no time! I think all too often we overlook the humble egg.

We cook a variety of egg dishes in every one of our ‘Mid-week inspiration’ cooking classes, as I think we are all guilty of over-complicating some meals. An egg brings everything back to basics.

A great free-range egg is one of life’s most simple and lovely treats!

8 free-range eggs
2 tablespoons water
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
100g sliced ham, roughly chopped
75g grated gruyere cheese*
1 small handful of Italian parsley, leaves only, roughly chopped

Whisk eggs in a bowl along with 2 tablespoons of water, and season with sea salt and cracked black pepper. Do not over-mix. The eggs should only just be amalgamated.

Place a large non-stick pan on high heat, and when hot, add the oil and butter. When the butter is foaming and starting to turn nut-brown, add the eggs. When eggs begin to set around the edges, use a spatula and pull the cooked edges gently towards the middle of the pan, allowing the uncooked egg mixture to spill out to the side of the pan and under the omelette. While the egg is still a little soft and runny, place the ham and gruyere cheese across the centre of the omelette. Fold the first third of the omelette in towards the centre then the last third over the top. Leave in the hot pan to cook for another 30 seconds.

Turn the omelette onto a plate and sprinkle with the chopped parsley as well as a little sea salt and cracked black pepper. Serve with a crisp green salad.

• For those that are lactose intolerant, substitute the gruyere cheese with goat’s cheese, if tolerated.

Simple chicken curry

Serves 4

Quick tip: Bake or steam your pumpkin in advance and leave at room

temperature. When you are ready to make the curry, it can be cooked in just
one wok or pan and ready to be served in just 10 minutes!

1 cup or more pumpkin, peeled
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 kaffir lime leaves
1 tablespoon canola or rice bran oil
2 tablespoons red curry paste (use a little less if you don’t want too much heat)
2 x 270ml cans coconut milk
500g free-range chicken breast fillets, cut into roughly 2cm pieces
Juice of 1 lime
2 teaspoons fish sauce

To serve
Lime wedges
1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves, plus whole leaves to garnish
Jasmine rice

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Place the peeled pumpkin on a chopping board and chop into large cubes. Place on a lined
baking tray and drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt. Bake in a preheated oven for
approximately 25 minutes. Remove and allow to cool slightly.

If you are cooking rice to enjoy with your curry, rinse it and commence cooking it.

To prepare the kaffir lime leaves, place them on a chopping board and slice out the middle spine, then slice the remaining leaves very finely. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the curry paste and stir fry for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the coconut milk then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes until thickened. Add the chicken and kaffir lime leaves and cook for 5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Add the lime juice, fish sauce and cooked pumpkin then cook for a further 2 minutes.

Serve the curry with rice and garnished with lime wedges and coriander leaves.

Spiced chickpeas with haloumi

Serves 2–3 as a main meal or 4–6 as a side dish

This is one hell-of-a dish. It takes around 10 minutes from start to finish. It is a stunning and quick vegetarian dish, but you don’t have to be a vegetarian to sing its praises.

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 brown onion, diced
1 red or yellow capsicum, diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground coriander
Pinch of chilli flakes
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 x 400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
200g Cypriot-style haloumi, cut into 2cm cubes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 x 400g can diced tomatoes
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Approximately 140g baby spinach leaves, washed and dried

To serve
2 tablespoons full fat Greek yoghurt
Lightly toasted flaked almonds
Heat a medium sized frying pan and add the oil. Cook the onion for a few minutes to soften. Add the capsicum and cook for a further few minutes.

Add the garlic, cumin, cinnamon, coriander, chilli flakes and turmeric and stir constantly for approximately 30 seconds. Add the chickpeas and haloumi and cook for a few more minutes to develop the flavours. Stir in the tomato paste and then add the sugar and canned tomatoes. Add the zest and juice of the lemon. Taste and then season with sea salt and pepper, and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Add spinach, cover with a lid and cook for 2 minutes or until the spinach has wilted.

Allow to cool slightly and serve with yoghurt and flaked almonds.