Ah finally. Home. Cooking. Bliss…

After a couple of manic months, it’s all been worth it. We’ve been living in our new house in our new city just over a week and already we love it. Like busy worker ants we’ve been running around getting everything we require to set up house and our little home is quickly taking shape. We’ve discovered some great cafes and restaurants within walking distance of our front door, some of which I may have to share with you at a later date. Our new favourite past time has become hanging out on our big back deck surrounded by lush greenery and the gentle hum of cicadas.

There has been stressful moments, we’ve gotten lost a couple of times trying to figure out various exits and one way streets. Filling a new beanbag with those pesky balls also pushed the limits of our relationship as I must admit patience is not my strongest suit. Nonetheless we’re quick to overcome adversity and mostly we’re just so happy with how everything has turned out. We pounded the pavement today and went for a great walk into the city to visit the amazing parklands and botanical gardens. There is so much to see, and the diversity here makes it ideal for people watching. We’ve barely scratched the surface and have so much to look forward to. I love that feeling of discovery and adventure you can’t help but feel when arriving somewhere new.

But on to more important things… I’m delighted to have my kitchen set up and to be cooking again. I’m still yet to get out and about to local markets however will do so in the coming weeks. Luckily Jan Power’s Farmers Markets can be found on Queen Street Mall each Wednesday. I’ve gone there for the past couple of weeks and have enjoyed having a wander on my lunch break. It’s great with lots of stalls offering an array of goods such as fresh produce, seafood, breads, dumplings, turkish pizza to cold rolls but to name a few. Live music adds to the colourful vibe as hordes of people stroll through the aisles.

I was in a bit of a Spanish mood on this particular day and felt like putting together some tapas. I’ve been indulging in more seafood since arriving up here and I had garlic prawns on the brain. When I saw these bright yellow and scarlet cherry grape tomatoes and pots of basil I was inspired to make a bruschetta salad to accompany the prawns. I grabbed a bag of perfect Spanish onions, a crusty baguette and I was on my way.

These flavours work beautifully together. The sweetness of the bruschetta, brimming with freshness harmonises with the salty discs of chorizo and soft garlic prawns. Gently chargrill some bread and use it to soak up the tasty pools left on your plate, trust me you’ll want to. We washed it all down with a glass of Chardonnay as we celebrated our first of many delicious meals to be savoured in our new home.

Garlic Prawns With Chorizo

Serves 2-3

1 chorizo, sliced thinly on the diagonal

2 tablespoons olive oil

500 grams medium green prawns, peeled and deveined

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes

Heat a frypan to medium heat and cook the pieces of chorizo for about 4 minutes, until they start to get a little crispy around the edges. This releases a lot of oil which I mopped up with a paper towel.

Remove from the heat and put the chorizo to the side.

Heat the olive oil in a frypan over medium heat and add the garlic, chilli flakes and prawns. Cook for a few minutes until the prawns are cooked through then add the chorizo at the end and mix together.

Bruschetta Salad

Serves 2-3

2 punnets of cherry grape tomatoes, sliced in half

1/2 Spanish onion, sliced thinly

Handful of baby basil leaves (or larger leaves torn into pieces)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Salt & pepper

Combine the cherry grape tomatoes with the onion, basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with chargrilled bread.