Grilled Salmon with Lemon Risotto topped with Creamy Prawn Sauce

Today is the first Sunday of September, a special day for us Australians because we are celebrating Father's Day. Interestingly, Father's Day was not started to show the children's love to their fathers but only to complement Mother's day which was widely celebrated to honour motherhood. Personally, I feel that fathers and mothers should be honoured and thanked for all the sacrifices they do for their children and grandchildren everyday day of their lives, until they part from us.

But who are we to blame the chance for a celebration. Most of you may have already planned for a great day; but there could be a handful of you still looking out for something to surprise the special person in your life. What about cooking something for him? If he loves seafood and happy to go Italian, here is a recipe for you - Pan Grilled Salmon with Lemon Risotto served with a Creamy Sauce of Prawns and Sun-dried Tomato.

Garlic-Herb Chicken, Spinach and Spring Onion Pizza

Friday evenings are synonymous with lazy evenings. You simply want to gather round with your family for a long chit chat or sit in front of the television to watch some exciting movies. More importantly, you want to wind down yourself after a hectic and heavy week.

Gourmet Pizza: Caramelised Onion, Mushroom and Sausage with Basil Pesto

Pizza (pronounced peetza) is an open pie of Italian origin, which has a bread like base and is traditionally covered with toppings like seasoned tomato sauce, cheese, meat, spinach, mushrooms, onion and olives. Pizza is the most versatile Italian dish that is now "not Italian" at all. There are countless varieties of pizzas available in restaurants and in every individuals' house. The toppings and the base can be varied according to one's choice and preference and is considered an easy Friday meal by most families with children.

Basic Pizza Sauce

A good pizza sauce is an answer to a good home-made pizza. No matter what you toppings are, you need a good sauce to hold it on and to enhance it. Here is a pizza sauce that is easy to prepare and goes quite well with any toppings of your choice.

Potato, Garlic and Rosemary Focacia

Focaccia is an Italian bread that is topped with herbs and other ingredients. Which made me ask the very next question - how is it different to pizza which is also as an Italian bread with toppings. And yes! The main difference lies in the topping. Focaccia is usually topped with herbs, olives and/or dry vegetables and finished off with olive oil. It can be served with dips or soups or by itself, dipped in some good quality olive oil. Whereas a pizza is topped with sauces, meats, vegetables and cheese and is actually made on a focaccia dough before the dough could be made a focaccia. Also, a focaccia may be eaten hot or cold while a pizza technically was meant to be eaten hot (though nowadays you have a myriad of options for cold pizza too).

2 in 1 Dough: Pizza/ Focaccia Base Dough

Sometimes the simplest recipes are the best and if it serves more than one purpose, well, you've hit the jackpot. That is what I felt when I got this recipe. And believe me when I say that the texture of this dough looks, feels and tastes totally different for a pizza and focaccia. The same dough used as a pizza base gives you a soft and chewy pizza base and whereas for focaccia it helps you to enjoy a base that is soft and chewy on the inside, yet slightly crusty on the outside.

Pizza dough - risen, knocked down and ready to be rolled out

Minestrone Soup with Garlic Bread

We (GC - my husband, JK - elder boy, MK - younger boy and myself) absolutely love soups. It is a staple in our household, especially during the cold winter months. It keeps you warm and cosy and is both comforting and nourishing at the same time. Of all the soups I make at home, the Minestrone Soup tops our list.

White Chocolate Panna Cotta

Panna Cotta is a classic Italian dessert which means cooked cream. It is velvety smooth and decadent and has a very close resemblance to the Indian Phirni or the Arabic Mahlabi. While Phirni uses rice flour and Mahlabi uses cornstarch to thicken boiled milk, Panna Cotta uses gelatin to a mixture of boiled milk and cream. And then there are also differences in the flavouring agents used and the way these desserts are served. I am hoping to post recipes for Phirni and Mahlabi very soon; so more later.

The recipe here is a change to the traditional one since it uses white chocolate (source: Woolworth's Australian Good Taste magazine). The original recipe serves Panna Cotta with coffee syrup but here I have used orange marmalade sauce (source: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/orange_marmalade_sauce.html). The first time I made this, the sauce turned out more bitter, since the marmalade I bought was more on the bitter side. The next time I tried it with a different brand of marmalade which was more sweet and the sauce turned out better. You can also serve it up with a berry coulis or a berry sauce. The choice is yours.