Category Archives: Food Glorious Food

Frugal Friday

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Once more Friday rolls around and there is not much left in the fridge. Not quite so little as to go shopping but not quite so much as to have many options. What to do with some organic pumpkin, carrots, and some flaccid celery and still get the monkeys to eat it? Carrying on from the Indian theme from last Friday, I think it was going to have to be dhal. Add a little red lentils, vegetable stock, some garlic, a fistful of spices and I had myself a tasty, healthy, budget friendly, monkey friendly dinner. Add a little natural yoghurt on top, and some fresh naan bread and dinner was done for ‘Frugal Friday’.

Naan bread I had tried to make a number of years ago, with the end result being little hard round bricks. That was the last time I had attempted them. Naan bread being a firm favourite here and with an excellent little Indian take away around the corner to happily oblige us when the taste for naan over comes us.

But not today. I wanted to give it another crack…..

160ml warm water

1tsp dry yeast

1 tsp sugar

2 cups plain flour

1 tsp salt

2 tbls oil/or ghee

2 tbls yoghurt

Mix the water, yeast and sugar together in a bowl until dissolved. Leave in a warm place for 10 minutes. Add flour salt, half the oil and yoghurt. Mix to a soft dough then knead on floured  surface until smooth and elastic.

Place dough in a bowl with wet tea towel over the top in warm place for approx 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.

Knead dough on floured surface for 5 minutes, then divide into 6 portions. Roll out into rounds. I pulled one side to get the traditional ‘teardrop’ shape that you would get if cooking in a tandoor oven.

Cook in a very lightly oiled frying pan and pop the frying pan under the grill to get those distinctive brown puffy circles to finish it off. Brush naan with remaining ghee or butter.

Free range Goat

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Goat meat. What to make of it? What to do with it?…

I have been curious about this meat for quite some time now. Even though it’s the most widely eaten meat in the world it’s not much eaten here in Australia. I think I may have eaten it once about 10 years ago in a Nepalese restaurant but that has been it.

So why the curiosity? I have been playing around with different meats. Organic, free range, locally produced, environmentally best options etc etc. Even though I couldn’t care less whether I ate meat ever again, everyone else in our family thoroughly enjoys it. So to keep meal times flowing, I cook the beasts.

In different circumstances I like to think that I would be able to rear my own animals and then either butcher them my self or take them to an abattoir to be slaughtered. However I’m not in that position at the moment so who knows how that would go down when it came to crunch time. (I think I could walk my talk though).

Free range chicken and organic beef sausages are staples with us here. They are easy and it keeps the monkeys happy. I tried to do kangaroo sausages once and am still traumatised by the whole ordeal. It’s a lean meat, with high levels of protein, and is also a natural wild meat- so not the environmental problems that can be associated with domestically bred animals…. it’s just not for this city hippy farm girl.

I tried so hard to like it. All I can liken it to is…

um…… lets just say it has a very unique taste, that may not be for everyone. If you can eat the stuff- good on you.

However I digress. It was goat I was talking about.

So. I was at some farmers markets and saw a stall for some locally produced free range goat meat. It was the first time they had run the stall, so it would be good see how they do down the track. The stall was certainly getting some attention and a lot of people were trying the different goat dishes that they had for samples. I bought some and away we went.

One Goat Curry later served with Basmati rice and steamed vegetables. The verdict….

Delicious! Everyone really enjoyed it. The meat was soft and tender. There wasn’t an over powering meaty taste. The older monkey said ” I like the chicken, but not the curry”. After I had explained it was goat. (He’s 4 though, if it doesn’t involve pizza, or hommus and capsicum then dinner needs some encouragement.)

Two things to remember when cooking goat.

1/ Cook it at a low temperature- as there is not much fat in the meat it can loose moisture and toughen up quickly if cooked at high temperatures.

2/ Cook the meat with moisture- enhances flavours and increases tenderness.

Will I cook it again?

Sure will.

You say Barfi I say Burfi

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Now it could be said, that I am a fan of all things Indian… and yes it would be true. From Bollywood to Indian sweeties and much in between. I love it all.

These were made yesterday, to end the week off well. They are so simple to make but are utterly delicious as well.

Barfi (or Burfi) is a delicious sweet from India. You can get many different types both in looks and flavours.

You are expecting a small sweet coconut flavoured morsel as you pop it in to your mouth and then you bite down. The chewyness of the pistachio, the sweetness of the condensed milk, the texture of the coconut and the comfort of the cardamom.

Comfort from cardamom?… A bit odd, but thinking about it… No, I will still stick by that one. Eating or drinking things with cardamom gives me comfort. (Nutmeg does it too, but nutmeg doesn’t go into these Barfi’s.)

I’m yet to take these little beauties anywhere where they haven’t been demolished within a short space of time. And that’s exactly what the woman said from Gourmet Food Safari when she made them- which is where I got the recipe from.

250g desiccated coconut
395g can sweetened condensed milk
10 cardamom pods – grind/crush seeds into a powder (already ground cardamom works fine I think as well)
Handful of pistachio nuts, roughly crushed

Mix 200g of the coconut and the remaining ingredients in a bowl.

Heat a non-stick pan on low heat and add mixture to the pan. Stir over low heat until the mixture starts to dry and rolls easily into a ball. Remove from the heat. Cool for 5 to 10 minutes until cool enough to handle.

Place the remaining coconut onto a plate. Using damp hands, roll the mixture into balls and then roll in coconut to coat. The coconut balls can be refrigerated for up to a week.

All though they certainly don’t last a week here!

Accident prone gingerbread men

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Gingerbread men. I have had the taste for these little fellas all week, and it was about time my fingers walked the talk. Besides there is nothing the monkeys like more, than helping to make biscuits.

We have these funny little gingerbread men cut outs with an arm or leg missing- although the boys just think some one has been tucking into their biscuits.

Biscuits should be their middle names. The hint of a biscuit and the older monkey is clambering all over me to get in on the biscuit action. This is done with shouts of “Glook! Glook!” (what the little monkey calls biscuits) as he shoves them  in as quick as possible, as obviously the quicker he eats them the more he gets (or so he thinks).

This is then followed by their dear father, muttering “I feel like biscuits” as the monkeys go to bed and quiet time ensues. Quiet time except for the persistent grumble of a stomach only hungry for biscuits.

Actually…. Maybe biscuit should be our family name.

Unusual yes.

But fitting….

Cake eye

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Coming back from grocery shopping my youngest little monkey decided he would help put things away. Before anyone could stop him he had ‘put away’ 5 eggs. Cracked and leaking but still within their shells, I had to make something with them straight away. I couldn’t waste 5 whole eggs. But what to make?

Quiche?

Scrambled eggs?

Cake?…Well that didn’t need too long thinking about. Of course it had to be cake!

Now I had just come home with some blueberries, and all week I had had the taste for some simple vanilla cupcakes. ( I had the *cake eye you see) So why not combine the two?

A vanilla blueberry cake!

The monkeys were napping so I whipped it up. I think it had 5 minutes too long in the oven but still not bad for a made up first effort. I certainly liked the way it looked.

The two monkeys woke up and I thought I would vacuum the place, just another few years and I will be able to get the two of them  to do that for me- for a nominal amount of pocket money of course. However until then, it was me.

Happily vacuuming away and started thinking….hmm, wheres the little monkey? Its been a whole minute since I have seen him and its very quiet.

Vacuum…. too quiet…. vacuum….really should check on him….. vacuum…. oh its been 2 minutes, where is he?

I had just vacuumed everywhere but the kitchen so he had to be there.

And there, standing perched on top of his little monkey chair that he had pulled up along side of the bench. He had a prime position to pick all the best bits of the Vanilla Blueberry Cake into his sweet innocent mouth.

He had the *’cake eye’ and he had it bad. Looking casually around to me, ‘oh good mama, you were taking awhile, so I thought I would help my self to some of this delicious looking cake I found on the bench’.

* CAKE EYE– Where you have a taste for something for sweet. You can think of nothing else but cake and you will not be sated by anything else until you get it. A term coined by my dear husband, and is able to explain sooo much in just two little words…. Cake eye.

Plums Plums Plums….

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What to do with a huge box of plums destined for the garbage as considered too ripe? Bring them home and make…

Plum Jam– not quite the same without the vanilla bean, but certainly passed the family test. My 18month old opened his mouth like a little bird, “more, more”.

Plum Crumble– the humble crumble is a staple in our household. Even though its been a regular on my cooking list for a really long time it still is a favourite. So versatile, use what ever you have got as long as some kind of fruit and butter goes in everything else is interchangeable.

Plum BBQ Sauce– not sure about this one yet, I haven’t made it before. The sort of thing you taste, let it roll around on your tongue a little, swallow and then you are still not sure so you try it again…

Plums stewed– straight into the freezer for another time.

Plum puree– also in to the freezer for food colour of a birthday cake at some stage.

I do get a certain sense of satisfaction making all these things from something that was just going to be tossed out. If I could only get more jars I would be making pots and pots more of jam. It is such a good thing to store in a cupboard or for a little present for someone.

Plum Vanilla Jam

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Yesterday i made the most amazing jam I think I have made in my jamy career. Heaven! You could eat a bowl full of it.

Plum Vanilla Jam. Sooo tasty. You know when you cook something and you are hoping that it will turn out and it’s all looking like it should be and then you go to taste it and it far exceeds your expectations?… well, it was one of those moments anyway. I was still excited about that batch when I went to bed last night!

My only trouble at the moment- not enough jars. I have abundance of fruit and not enough jars. I am on a jar recruitment drive at the moment so am hoping that I can get a few more from other people. As we don’t seem to go through that many glass jars, and I can’t see the point in buying them when people are tossing out perfectly good ones.

So what went in it?

Plums-    1.6k

Vanilla bean pod-    1

sugar-    1 kilo

lemon juice –   1 lemon

Well worth the effort, and it comes out this beautiful rich red colour.

(Present idea– cut a round piece of material to go over the top lid, attach with some cooking twine and tuck an antique/opshop teaspoon through the twine.)

Gourmet Farmer

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This is one of my favourite shows to watch at the moment. His life is what I would love to achieve down the track. After watching the show I am always enthusiastically re-telling my husband what happened. An episode ends and I have a sigh and a smile on my lips…

For anyone that wants to be inspired to grow their own food, rear their own animals for eating, live in Tasmania, or after a great recipe that will look and taste great- watch it or read the blog.  http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/gourmetfarmer/blog/page/i/1/h/Blog/

I am hoping to make the Apple and Blackberry Shortcake this afternoon. Fingers crossed I get time…

Apple Shortcake

….. and I did! It was deeelicious.

Yogurt

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I am the recent proud owner of a yogurt maker thanks to my sister. How I hadn’t discovered this little winner before I dont know. Its so easy! Buy a sachet from the super market, add water and leave for 8 hours.

So far I have only made the natural flavoured ones and just added my own flavours-

Apple/strawberry puree

Pear

Vanilla

I did add some pear jam from last week one night as well, super tasty!

So no more plastic tubs to buy, plus saving money. Also it passed the kid taste test. If my boys weren’t going to eat it, it wasn’t going to happen as they are the yogurt kings in this house. The yogurt maker makes a litre at a time. So at the moment I am making it twice a week. Not sure how long you would be able to keep it for in the fridge but I guess thats never going to be an issue for us as it is eaten in such large quantities.

Jams, Chutneys and Granola….

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New to the blogging world. I thought I might start one, just to watch my own progression on living as sustainably as possible in an urban environment.  Finding out what works for me and my family and maybe achievable by others living  in a city environment.

Last week was  a busy one. The kitchen saw a flurry of activity in a few days. From a box of unwanted pears destined for the garbage emerged 9 jars of jam. One batch Lemon & Pear, and the other Lemon, Ginger & Pear. Really tasty! One pot of Mango Chutney, using some mangoes given to us from my father in laws neighbours tree. First time I have ever made chutney, and suitably impressed at how easy it was.

Yesterday I made Granola– So super easy to make. I came across this as my husband really likes to buy the stuff. The supermarket packet ones can be quite pricey and never seem to go very far, and after looking at the ingredients- “How hard can it be?” So wanting to make it a bit (a lot) healthier than the packet ones this is what I use.

quick oats

s/r flour

coconut oil

vanilla

cinnamon

optional extras- maple syrup, whole almonds, walnuts, desicated coconut, sultanas, dried apricots, sunflower seeds, seasame seeds, pepitas, honey. There are so many healthy and tasty flavours you can play around with. And if you really just want it to taste more like the packet stuff- just add sugar!

The trick is at the end is to add a little water and scrunch the mixture together with your hands, getting those tasty clusters together. Then whack it in the oven until toasted and golden colour (170C). Move the mixture round once while cooking, so it cooks evenly.

Its a really tasty breakfast cereal, good for a snack or even better for a present for some one.

 (Present idea– Put it in a lovely glass jar and a label.)