Peach and Tomato Summer Salad
Led by the best of intentions, no resolutions and lots of curiosity.
January has felt long. Not bad long as in ‘dragging on’ but good long. Languorous, restful, and leisurely, the good kind of long. The kind of month where we’ve not risen with the sun but rather slept until her warmth reaches the window and its glow dances across your eyes rousing you. When chores wait, books are read from start to finish, perhaps work is on the shelf for a bit and the year feels full of possibility.
I’ve felt suspended this January however. Maybe stuck, maybe just in denial, the latter being a fairly regular visitor for me at this time of year. I always start the year full of ideas, hope and determination and like most of us, irrespective of how challenging or otherwise the months become, generally limp across the finish line come December. That fresh new diary or calendar however always inspires me to dream big.
The pace of January allows the mind to wander doesn’t it, mine certainly does. You start wondering what you could achieve in the year without the pressures of time marching by. Time feels somewhat suspended, our minds are less cluttered without deadlines and routines weighing us down. I buy myself a new diary every year and excitedly open it to the first page, fresh and smooth with that gorgeous new book smell. This year will be the year I stick to routine, to task, to the steps towards the dreams inspiring my resolutions….or so I tell myself each year when I start filling the pages.
I’m always led by good intentions, certain that’s all it takes…isn’t it? Maybe it’s a sign of a positive attitude, never say die, always having hope. Maybe I’m delusional. Let’s face it me and my best intentions don’t always end in the intended outcome. Remember that two-month road trip I was going to take you on? A little jaunt around New South Wales and southern Queensland where we were going to discover all manner of secret treasures and country gems, well it started well, got a bit lost or forgotten and then ended in a limp to the finish. I had the best of intentions and imagined a lovely collection of posts like a travel blog I could look back on you could enjoy as a vicarious holiday with me. It’s the perfect example of best laid plans falling over or perhaps my lack of follow through and the perfect example of why no matter the sense of wonder and hope a new year offers me I’m not well suited to new year’s resolutions and the consequent let down that befalls me.
Our social media feeds and perhaps even our conversations are full of chatter about our resolutions or goals for the coming year at the moment, but have you noticed in recent times this waning? The resolution seems to have made way for ‘the word,’ the one people look to for guidance through the course of the year or perhaps to inform intentions as they come up rather than one big profound promise they make themselves. In following the posts of others on the ‘word’ of the year it seems to me these words can act as an umbrella for those promises that may have previously looked and sounded like resolutions but feel less pressured and gentler. Anyway a few years ago I tried a word, again with all the best of intentions imagining the things that word might drive me towards. Trouble was, life took over and I kind of forgot what my word was. I know, who forgets their word. Clearly I’m not well suited to grand and profound gestures such as resolutions and words.
Fast forward to 2024 and the posts were coming think and fast. “Geez do I need a word?” I ask myself again because heck it must work for all those other folks dreaming big if they keep doing it or why would they repeat the exercise each year. Anyway, whilst pondering this a post popped up in my Instagram feed on this very topic. Eloquently presented by Em, her word felt more like a philosophy than a grandiose dream of lofty heights from whence one could fall in a dithering mess again by the end of the year’s first quarter. “A philosophy,” I thought, now that’s something I could do and live by and draw on continually.
So, drawing on a conversation I’d had recently with my son in which I’d suggested the key to a good life and urged him to pursue it I arrived at a word. It’s not one to overwhelm me but rather to excite me. This year, for me the word is ‘Curiosity!’ I have no idea where it will take me because I have no mountainous dreams, ok maybe I do but if I keep them filed under ‘Mountainous Dreams’ and they remain on that peak with me only half way up towards the summit I won’t feel like a failure, but I do know that a year in which I’m fuelled by curiosity can only be a good one…ultimately. Let’s see how it goes and maybe you could check back on me in December. I may or may not be the one crawling one handed towards the finish line with my other hand gripping a glass of bubbles ready to cheers the end of another lap.
On the subject of bubbles, during that wonderful lap of New South Wales, we visited with friends who took us to a gloriously indulgent restaurant, perhaps a loose segway but stay with me. In a gorgeous boutique hotel set in stunning rambling gardens we enjoyed a sumptuous meal of the freshest, loveliest ingredients creatively curated into superb dishes. One of which has stuck in my mind…and phone camera roll. Tonight, we’re enjoying a Bill Granger Miso Roast Beef recipe (gosh wasn’t that sad news over the Christmas break) and, led by that curiosity I’m nurturing this year, I’m recreating that dish,with my take on a fresh summery salad. Served at Bell’s with a wonderful plump ball of oozy burrata perched atop, I’ve changed it up a bit to suit the two of us tonight but if you want to impress a crowd you could definitely replace the bocconcini with a globe of creamy goodness.
Ingredients:
2 tomatoes cut into large chunks. If you have access to them grab the interesting varieties that are well ripened, they have so much more flavour.
2 yellow peaches, ripe so they come away from the seed easily, cut into chunks of similar size to the tomato chunks
2 Tb extra virgin olive, one with good flavour
3 tsp red wine vinegar
Pinch of salt flakes
Good grind of black pepper
100 gm baby bocconcini drained
2 heaped Tb whole roasted hazelnuts (skinless) halved
20 small basil leaves
½ tsp ground sumac
Method:
In a medium sized shallow bowl large enough to hold everything combine the oil vinegar and salt and pepper and whisk until combined. Swirl bowl so the puddle of dressing coats the base of the bowl. Place the peach and tomato chunks in a single layer over the dressing puddle. Dot the hazelnuts here and there across the top along with the bocconcini pieces. Sprinkle over the basil leaves finishing with a sprinkle of the sumac across the top. Don’t stir the salad before serving rather present in that lovely layer. The salad will have macerated in a fashion while it floats on the dressing puddle.
Serve immediately, if needing to transport you could drizzle over the dressing and sprinkle over the sumac just as you serve.
Finds & Forays
Ok so I feel like I’ve let the elephant out of the room in a fashion hinting at the lack of posts and letters to you in recent months. I’ve existed in a semi-permanent state of holiday life hitching to my husband’s long service leave wagon. He returned to work this week and with his return to work so too has routine returned to our lives. Indeed he’s even left the work from home life behind starting the day early so now I’m on the early riser wagon. That sound you hear echoing through the suburbs is the laughter of those who know me personally reading of me and early mornings….. curiosity folks, it’s driving me this year and there is something to be said for those early starts.
Anyway I digress. Back to that road trip. I had plans of sharing those hidden gems found along the way and I may still do that here and there as I return to my writing routine but one of the biggest highlights of recent months has been some of the books I’ve discovered.
It won’t surprise you to hear I travel with cookbooks, they really do make some of the best reading aside from kitchen inspo. This one was a wonderful collection of, as always, delicious recipes laced with beautifully written anecdotes and reminiscences of the interesting rich life Tessa has lived (apologies if I’ve already mentioned this one but it’s worth the revisit if so). On the topic of full lives, and as I mentioned above, wasn’t it sad news to hear of Bill Granger’s passing. His influence on the Australian food scene and our food reputation globally has been profound beyond measure and words. I have three of his books from which I’ve cooked occasionally but none of them contained the iconic dishes for which he was most famous, his corn fritters and ricotta hotcakes. I felt a pull to own these and quickly ordered his opus to round off the collection of his work. Ironically I’ve not cooked either of those dishes but have drawn heavily on the BBQ chapter already, it’s a wonderful book with simple recipes all quite easy to prepare that speak to the multi national nature of our cuisine and quality of ingredients available to us.
I also managed to get stuck into some wonderful fiction books. If you like a gripping mystery you might like to check this one out by Melbourne author Matthew Ryan Davies. Matt’s stories always have a sharp curl in the tail that knocks you over just when you think you’ve figured it out. Set in one of my favourite seaside towns of Queenscliff it’s a story of the a friendship between two boys through to manhood and the catastrophic event that binds them through the decades. It was an incredible ride that was nigh impossible to put down.
In a similar theme of mysteries but with a lighter bent I loved The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose. The second in the series (though you can read it without reading the first though it was great) it follows a second mystery to befall a small luxury hotel in London and its head maid Molly. She’s the most delightful endearing character who you want to cheer for and give a hug to in equal measure, culminating in a reliably satisfying ending, a perfect holiday read.
Ok, that’s way more than I anticipated throwing at you this first week back. I’m so excited to be back and hope you enjoy the recipes I create for you this year. If you have any special requests please feel free to reply to this email or drop a comment below in the app/web version.
Have a great week,
S x
Welcome back!