Kendall Talbot Blog

Thai Fish Cakes - delicious family favorite

4/19/2015

My heroine in Treasured Secrets is a talented chef, so of course, as a lover of food, I just had to make all the meals that Rosalina prepares in my books. This recipe features in a tapas feast in book two in my series: Treasured Lies.

These Thai Fish cakes are delicious, easy to make and certain to become a favourite with your whole family. This recipe makes 12 fish cakes, so I always make at least a double batch. You can make them a day ahead too and reheat if you like. They are perfect party finger food too.

Ingredients

250g White fish fillets, skin & bones removed
1/2 cup cooked long grain rice
1/2 cup green beans roughly chopped
1 stalk lemon grass, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 red chili, seeds removed and chopped
1 coriander plant, roots included chopped
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 egg, beaten
Vegetable oil for frying

Method

Put all ingredients except oil into a food processor and process until just combined. Don’t over mix.

Place about 1cm of oil in a hot pan.

Place a heaped tablespoons into pan and fry a few at a time until golden brown on both sides. Drain on absorbent paper.

Serve with fresh green salad, sweet potato fries and dipping sauces.

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Tuscany - and the horrific event that inspired my trilogy

4/16/2015

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People often ask me where I get ideas for my books from and sometimes it amazes me what instigates that initial spark. Over the next couple of weeks, I'll blog some of the experiences that inspired my 'Treasured' series of book.

In 2011 my husband surprised me with a trip to Tuscany for our 20th anniversary. We had 10 wonderful days exploring this fabulous region and we stayed in a 700 year old villa called Villa Pandolfini in Signa, a little village just a fifteen minute train ride from Florence.
Our spectacular historic villa with extremely high ceilings, magnificent frescoes and original antique furniture was surrounded by vineyards and olive-groves and offered an extensive view over Arno Valley. This incredible villa was the perfect place to set my author brain into action and consequently features prominently in Treasured Secrets.

Our rooms were overflowing with antiques.

Villa Pandolfini Signa Tuscany Italy

It was a visit to a little church in the medieval area of Florence that catapulted my creative writing ideas into overdrive. The Church of St Apostoli was built in the 11th century and is very insignificant compared to the many more grand churches in this historic city. This church is located in the Piazza Del Limbo, a nondescript concrete plaza, so named as it was once the cemetery for unbaptized babies.

The floor inside the church is inlaid with a beautiful marble mosaic, but the aspect that caught my interest was an oval door in the mosaic floor. Our guide informed us that this was where they threw the bodies during the plague of 1348. (Whether or not this was true, I still don't know). But I do know that there were so many bodies that they didn’t have time to give the deceased proper burials. Of course, in doing this, they actually contributed to the spread of the disease, by literally feeding the rats. Sixty percent of Europe’s population died from The Black Death - some fifty million people.

"Die Pest in Epiros" ("The Plague in Epirus") a copper engraving by Pierre Mignard (1610-1665) depicts a bubonic plague epidemic.

As soon as our guide mentioned this horrific event, my head was spinning with ideas of entire families being wiped out and long buried secrets. Then I began to wonder what happened to all their precious possessions. By the time we were on the plane home, I was drafting the bones of a story.

That idea has blossomed into a trilogy with the first book Treasured Secrets available now.

TREASURED SECRETS...
Some secrets should remain hidden forever.

Macadamia and Salted Caramel Friands - YUM

One of my favorite highlights of Tuscany was the food and wine. So much so, that Rosalina, my character in Treasured Secrets is a chef and throughout this series she tantalizes the reader with many fabulous meals.

I'm a method writer, so consequently, I cooked, photographed, wrote about and of course, devoured every one of these delicious meals too. I loved this aspect of these books so much. If you love to cook to, if you sign up to my newsletter you can receive these recipes for FREE.

Register for my newsletter and receive a FREE recipes that Rosalina made in Treasured Secrets and Treasured Lies. That was you can cook as you read along.

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Yummy Cheese Cups

4/12/2015

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Murazzano Cheese Cups

I needed a dish for my character, Rosalina, to make that would have my readers drooling. This little recipe was the result of much research and input from my wonderful facebook followers.

The scene I created this recipe for is below, I hope you like it.

Murazzano Cheese Cups

This delightful little appetizer can be prepared in advance and cooked in the oven at the last minute.

Upon cooking you will have a delicious little cheese pot to fill with fig jam, caramelised onion relish, crispy prosciutto, or any other filling that takes your fancy. You can receive more of these fabbo recipes if you sign up to my newsletter. You'll find more details here: Newsletter

Murazzano DOP is a soft cheese made in Alta Langa in the province of Cuneo, a wonderful area located in the South of Piemonte, Italy. Murazzano is a cylindrical, un-ripened, full-fat cheese made from sheep's milk. It’s a milky white rindless cheese with a soft and slightly springy texture. (If this cheese isn't available, use a soft goat's cheese.)

Ingredients
4 sheets of ready rolled puff pastry
200 grams of Murazzano DOP Cheese (If not available use a soft goat’s cheese)
100ml Fresh cream
100ml Fresh milk
1 tablespoon of chives
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease 24 cup mini muffin tray with melted butter.

2. Cut puff pastry into rounds to fit into the muffin tray and puncture the bottom with a fork.

3. Blend all other ingredients in a mixer for 1 minute.

Serve hot these yummy little cheese pots with slices of Spiced Poached Pear, Homemade Fig Jam, Caramelised Onion Relish, crispy prosciutto, or any other filling that takes your fancy.

4. Fill the pastry cups with the cheese mixture.

5. Cook in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

Some secrets should be hidden forever.

Here's a tasty snippet from Treasured Secrets:

Rosalina dusted her flour-caked hands onto her apron and then turned to check on the Murazzano cheese rolls already baking in the oven. The scents of aromatic spices, melting cheese and fresh-baked pastry wafted from the open door. She lifted the tray from the oven and placed it onto the cork placemat.

‘Smells magnifica.’ Alessandro ran his tongue over his lips and she had this sudden desire to kiss him. The urge came from nowhere. Maybe she’d had too much wine. Maybe she was falling for him, despite all her determination not to. Maybe, just maybe, she was finally over Archer.

She smiled as Alessandro practically drooled over her cooking. He’d always been a dependable part of her life, and that was something she needed right now. And he was the perfect willing guinea pig for her culinary experiments. He reached for a still steaming pastry and she snapped his hand away. ‘Wait,’ she said. ‘You want the whole experience don’t you?’

His eyes lit up. ‘Sì, mio dolce.’

Rosalina liked the way he called her ‘my sweet’, especially given her love of cooking all things sugary. He was patient with her and seemed to understand her need to take everything slow.

Rosalina sliced the now cooled poached pear and placed a sliver upon the savoury cheese pastry. ‘Open up.’

Alessandro obliged and she popped the nibble into his mouth. His eyes did that heavenly eye roll before he closed them and savoured the treat. A low moan of approval teased from his throat and she knew she had him. He was a delight to watch.

First he would taste the sweetness of the pear, delicately poached with cinnamon and Chinese five spice. Next would come the multifaceted Murazzano cheese, smooth and rich in flavour. Finally, the buttery pastry would round it off. She liked to think of it as a smorgasbord in a bite.

Register for my newsletter and receive FREE recipes that my character, Rosalina, made in my books Treasured Secrets and Treasured Lies. This way you can cook as you read along.
These Cheesy Arancini balls are delicious.

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Love salted caramel? Check these out.

3/29/2015

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Macadamia and Salted Caramel Friands

I've never made friands before so I was amazed at how easy these were. And they were so so yummy.

Ingredients
5 large egg whites
220 grams soft brown sugar
185 grams butter melted. Plus extra melted butter for greasing friand moulds.
125 grams almond meal
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 level teaspoon of sea salt
75 grams of plain flour, sifted
50 grams if macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Brush friand moulds with melted butter.
Whisk egg whites lightly until amalgamated.
Thoroughly stir in sugar, to ensure all lumps are gone.
Mix in butter, almond meal, macadamia nuts, vanilla and salt.
Sift in the flour and fold in lightly.
Spoon mixture into moulds. Place filled tins onto a tray and place in the centre of the preheated oven.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden on top and springy to the touch.
Stand in moulds for a minute or two before turning out

Click HERE for a printable copy of this recipe.

It’s no coincidence that many of Kendall Talbot's books have at least one character who loves to cook. She loves food, she loves to eat it, loves to cook it and Kendall loves to write about it too.

Register for my newsletter and receive FREE recipes, like Figs Wrapped in Prosciutto (Pictured here), that my character Rosalina made in Treasured Secrets and Treasured Lies.

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Our big family adventure

3/15/2015

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As we live in sunny Queensland Australia it was a wonderful diverse experience to spend a Christmas in the snow. In 2007 I took my family to Big White, a ski resort situated approximately 50km’s from Kelowna or 450km east of Vancouver Canada. We rented someone’s cute holiday ski chalet with a fireplace and hot tub.

It was delightful at the end of each day to sit in our hot tub and listen to the snow sizzle as it hit our bubbling hot water. Snow would land on our noses and in our hot chocolate or champagne as we allowed the therapeutic bubbles to relax our overworked ski legs.

Big White Mountain is 2319 metres high and offers a vertical drop of 777m. With 16 lifts and an annual snow fall of 750cm, this mountain has some seriously good skiing. Exactly why I took my family there.

Big White has 118 designated trails and a number of unnamed trails. Thankfully for us nearly 20% of the trails are for beginners, although my kids progressed from that pretty quickly. More than 50% of the mountain is for intermediate skiers. One of our favourite ski runs was a green ski run that started with a 10 minute chairlift ride. By the time we reached the top we were freezing and couldn’t wait to get moving again. By day two we had to purchase balaclavas for the boys just to keep them warm on the ski lift.

Anyway, once we jumped off this chair lift, and not always gracefully I’ll tell you, we started down one of the longest ski runs I’ve ever experienced. It was a winter wonderland with fabulous fluffy powdery snow. We skied through avenues of ‘snow ghosts’ which are giant snow blasted trees that become an intriguing canvas of shapes. The boys managed to find every jump possible on the way down some of them were through the trees. Near the end of the run, we’d ski right up to our chalet door for a quick hot chocolate and rest. Then we’d step out the door and ski down to the chair lift to do it all again. It was a fabulous way to spend Christmas.
(Click here for a copy of my yummy Hot Chocolate Recipe).

While we were there we also did a snow mobile tour. Acquired dozens of bruises while bob sledding. Had a family ice hockey tournament. Screamed our lungs out on the mega tubing rides and topped it all off with Christmas carols and fireworks.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed another one of my travel experiences.

I write books that reflect my life experiences.

Treasured Secrets - Some secrets should remain hidden forever.

Treasured Secrets is the beginning of an adrenaline fueled series with sexy sassy characters, exotic locations and breathless adventure.

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