food foraging- mulberry breakfast trifle

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The last few weeks I’ve been lucky enough to find a couple of laden mulberry trees on my daily travels. The first thing to notice is lots of dark almost blue coloured stains squishing under your shoes, then I look up and… oh hello bountiful tree with your weighty branches filled with red tinged berries. What’s that? You want me to pick me you and store you in my handy empty container I just happen to have with me? Don’t mind if I do.

Most mulberry trees around these parts are usually on some one elses property and not within arms reach. Not my arms anyway. However lately I have had easy access to a couple of trees weighted down by all their fruit. Only once I have seen someone else picking the fruit, everyone else seems to walk on by not knowing what it is, or not in the slightest bit interested.

Picking mulberries is a bit of a labour of love. The juice stains your fingers and each berry has to be picked individually. Once home, you still have to pick off the little green stems before cooking with, (and I always seem to be in a white top when ever I happen to come across them). It can take a while to get a decent amount, but it’s definitely worth it.

I’m not particularly good at identifying wild food foraging options in my local area. Mulberries are easy. Loquats quite often pop up, and the tiniest mini mandarins are also near by. (Which were the tartiest fruit I have ever tasted- very funny while watching The Monkeys taste test them… evil mama, I know.)

Apart from that, my knowledge for urban foraging could use a little upgrade. In the mean time though, at least I have breakfast sorted.

Is anyone else enjoying some local free foraged food?

Mulberry Breakfast Trifle

whole oats

apple juice

natural yogurt

whole almonds

mulberries

***

Soak whole oats in some hot apple juice.

Blitz whole almonds (skins too) until you get a consistency you like (I like it chunky) or use almond meal. Mix in with the soaked oats.

Cook up mulberries in a little apple juice, then cool.

Then alternate with the layers of oats, mulberries and yogurt.

* If you like it sweeter, you can add flavoured yogurt, or a little jam to the mulberries (or sugar). No mulberries? Use any other kind of berry.

Chewy coconut biscuits

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“Mama these are the best biscuits in the whole world!”

Big contented sigh from me. I smile at Monkey Boy.

“Thanks little fella… you my dear, may have another”.

I’m easily satisfied with minimal effort on the kitchen front and happy taste sensations going on when you bite into a biscuit. Monkey Boy is easily happy when something just tastes good. No more words necessary.

Except when you forget the sugar, and you’ve just made a double batch of The Monkeys new favourite biscuits. Little Monkey took a bite and confidently handed the biscuit back. Monkey Boy said they tasted a bit old, and not really like last time. A visiting foodie friend wrinkled her nose up and handed the remaining biscuit to a quietly pouting baker. Baking ego quietly deflating.

What to do with rather a lot of sugarless coconut biscuits?

Yes, I could have eaten them, it didn’t bother me there was no sugar in them. But probably not the wisest idea, having 50 biscuits just for me.

What do? How to sugar them up?…Spoon jam in between them? Dunk them in chocolate? What about covering them in lime icing?

Hmmm, lime icing eh?…that should do the trick.

Much better. Eaten once again with gusto.

“Mama, these are the best biscuits in the world!”

Baking ego restored.

Chewy Coconut Biscuits

125g softened butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup desiccated coconut

1 cup plain flour

1/2 cup raw sugar

1/4 cup milk

Mix together and spoon into some cling wrap. Roll in to a log shape roll. Pop in to the fridge for a while, until the mixture firms up and roll again to get a smoother log shape. Cut into biscuit rounds with a serrated knife. Bake at 180 for about 15-20 minutes. Longer of you like them crunchy.

eating Italian style

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I’m the first one to admit that I don’t utilise Sydney enough for everything it has to offer. It’s a big city, with a lot of things going on at any given time, and sometimes I just need to say, oh, yes please, lets go. I didn’t need any words of encouragement to get to this one though. I had been flicking through the Crave Sydney Food Festival  guide and one thing jumped out at me… Haberfield food festival. Item circled, multiple arrows drawn pointing to it and Mr Chocolate told he was to cancel anything else going on for that day, as we were going.

Ok, he said. Thankfully he didn’t need any encouraging words to get him there either. Promises of Italian food tasting plates and pasticceria goodies was all that was needed.

Haberfield is in Sydney’s  inner west and an as authentic Italian experience as you are going to get outside of the mother land itself. Leichhardt? (It’s flashy Italian cousin suburb next door) Pffft… Give me Haberfield any day.

So with a large bag to fill, dollars in my pocket and a tummy keen to try everything on offer we set forth.

 The Monkeys were keen to try these ones. Gingerbread as big as your…

 Well as big as a small persons head. Eaten and finished on the spot.

 My new favourite butcher. A lot of butcher’s have an annoying habit of stating they carry free-range pork products, but on further questioning, don’t know where the meat is from or are using a ‘free-range’ company with (in my mind) dubious free range-ness. So our family just does without unless I’m buying from a company I know and trust. (Piggy options for a city girl post here.) I was very happy to hear that this wasn’t the case at Gojak’s. Using a company I was already familiar with brings a little sigh of relief… Ahhh, and piggy purchases then  tucked away in my bottomless bag.

 Back to the tasting, and there was some mozzarella, wrapped in prosciutto, drizzled with truffle oil. (Half consumed, before I remembered a picture.)

 Buffalo mozzarella.

 Eggplant Involtini. Melt in your mouth that one was. Stuffed with tomato, breadcrumbs, and parmesan.

 One panino, two panino, three panino, four? Well actually there was seven panini eaten between the four of us. What can I say, they were delicious.

Cannoli. Now for reference reasons I needed to buy these ones. They were taken home to be eaten later, but hands down so much better than my ones were. Note to self, need to keep practising…

Also bought and not shown was…

* The most delicious biscuits I’ve tasted in….years! I can’t work out what was in them to try and replicate them, so will have to make a return trip for further investigations. It’s tough, but someone has to do it. I’m thinking almondy something or other. It’s a little Ameretto, and a little marzipan in taste.

* One recharging espresso for Mr Chocolate, (who also sometimes goes by the name of Mr Coffee.)

* One double sausage and onion roll, inhaled by Mr C and two ravenous Monkeys.

* Rosetta rolls for later.

* Chilli and Rocket Ricotta, Mozzarella, and Bocconcini from Paesanella for later.

I could have kept going, but for the sake of my now quite full stomach and empty wallet, we left it at that. Vowing to return another day, (and hopefully next weekend if I have anything to do with it.)

growing

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He’s growing up…

discovering new exciting things

independence and pride

and a smile that is infectious

The blueberry is growing…

every where

up down and all around

a spurt of warm weather is making for a very happy potted blueberry bush

I’m growing out…

ten tiny fingers and ten tiny toes

slowly getting nurtured in a warm womb

radiating love out and radiating love in,

 a whole beautiful bundle of it.

Cauliflower Curry- Frugal Friday

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Cauliflower.

I think you either love it or hate it. Is there a middle ground with this much loved/hated vegetable? If you hate it, find something else to substitute it. If you love it…well tuck in please.

Cauliflower Curry

a good slurp of vegetable oil

then add

1 chopped spring garlic

a diced onion

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

 1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp cinnamon

 salt to taste

fry until smells delicious and then add

 1 whole roughly chopped cauliflower

5 small chopped length ways zucchini

2 cups water

cook until the vegetables are just cooked through, (you don’t want them mushy and disintegrated)

then add

200mls coconut milk

serve with some roasted cashews on top

Fruit and Nut Rye

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There is something about truly wholesome food that feeds the soul. A simple seasonal dish, fruit and vegetables picked at their best. Honest food that nourishes, heals and restores.

It could be something as simple as revitalising an appetite or tantalising those taste buds. Inspiring to cook better. I was watching a cooking programme the other day and got so excited about the simple ingredients the chef was using. The presentation was beautiful, the colours, the textures and also the fact that it took just a few minutes to prepare.

Food is exciting. It can be wonderfully vibrant. It brings people together. The textures, the smells, the colours all mixed together can do so much. As I quite often write, it doesn’t have to be complicated, and it doesn’t have to take half a day to prepare.

Packets don’t have the same effect. Jars are unlikely to as well. Fruit and vegetables with their genetic diversity dumbed down for convenience and then stored for great lengths of time do not have the same qualities and effects of their seasonal local heirloom variety counterparts.

I love sweet things, and don’t have any issue with sweet recipes in moderation. However I do think that in our society sugar is being used as a substitute for taste. Salt is right along side it. A product lacking in flavour, health, anything nourishing what so ever will be added to. What with? Sugar and or salt. It deadens the taste buds, you want more, your satisfaction levels get confused and more gets consumed. Using ingredients that are easily identifiable, and letting their real flavours shine through brings dishes to the table that make a person smile.

Listen closely to a small child with their favourite simple piece of fruit, and more often than not, slow enjoyable eating sounds will be heard. A sun kissed strawberry brings nothing but happy slurps and red stained fingers and mouth. Taste buds heightened and ignited. A lesser strawberry would still be consumed, but leaving no satisfaction, taste buds lying dormant and on finishing it, you’ve already forgotten about it and moved on.

Bread is no different. For this bread I wanted something that nourished every part of me. A couple of slices for breakfast that would leave my taste buds awakened and my body energized.

Fruit and Nut Rye

300g starter

200g strong bakers flour

100g rye flour

50g linseed

100g sultanas

50g chopped pecans

25g unprocessed wheat bran

1 tsp dark malt flour

275mls (approx) water

1 1/2 tsp salt

handful of raw almonds

Mix all ingredients together except the salt. Resting period for about 40 minutes. Add the salt and mix again. Two long proves with a quick knead in between. Shape or pop in an oiled loaf tin, making sure you throw in a handful of whole raw almonds at the bottom of the tin and bake at 240C with plenty of steam. I baked this one for about 40 minutes. Then gently flipped the loaf out of the tin and into the oven again for another 5 or so minutes, bottom side up, to toast the almonds a little more. Cool on a rack, then wrap and leave over night before cutting into.

This post submitted to the wonderful yeastspotting

Godambah or stuffed roti

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I’m convinced every country has their own version of a stuffed pastry. They differ in names, they differ in flavours, but essentially it’s the same kind of thing, a little bit of vegetables or meat thrown between  some pastry or bready outside and then cooked. Quite often frugal in ingredients, seasonal and easy to use up what ever is going on in your fridge….and so far, I like them all.

England has the pastie.

Italy has the calzone.

Eastern Europe has the pierogi.

Japan has the gyoza.

India has the samosa

South America has the empanada.

Australia has the pie

and

Sri Lanka has the godambah, or stuffed roti.

Street food at it’s best. I ate these in Sri Lanka teamed up with a feisty chilli sauce, and usually wrapped up in yesterday’s news. An easy food to eat while you wander around.

I hadn’t made them up until now, as roti and I were not friends. As  much as I had tried, I just couldn’t master the little buggers. Then I caught sight of this cookbook lying idly on its side waiting for a good page flipping.

Bingo…oh big bingo! Loved it.

 Stuffed roti, along with a whole lot more goodies to be cooked on other days. Now there is nothing I like better than Sri Lankan food. Every thing about it speaks to my senses. Visual, taste, smell it’s all there. I’d made curries before and Love Cake but it was now time to give the Godambah a crack.

For the original recipe please see here. For how I did it, see below.

Vegetable Godambah

* adapted from Sri Lankan Flavours– Channa Dassanayaka

Roti

2 1/2 (375g) cups plain flour

1 (250mls) cup water

1 tsp salt

Mix ingredients together, and let rest, covered for a couple of hours. Give it a quick knead and divide dough into 8 balls. Roll balls on a pizza tray (or something stainless steel.) Then store in a well oiled bowl. The oil  is important to get the right consistency when rolling out the roti.

Get a ball, and spread out dough with your finger tips, pushing out to a rectangular shape. Place a good sized spoonful of mixture in the middle and fold up. Then fry each side until golden.


Roti Mixture

a couple of slurps of vegetable oil

1 onion diced

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sambal olek

Fry until fragrant and then add potatoes, carrots and 1/2 cup peas.

(Use what ever  vegetables take your fancy, and incorporate mashed potatoes in there to firm up the mixture. I used…)

3 steamed potatoes- mashed

1 steamed carrot- diced

Once all parcels are cooked up, serve with some chilli sauce.

* Roti can be cooked up as a flat bread as well and served with a curry. Just fry quickly in an oiled fry pan or wok.

patching it up

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I still haven’t quilted properly. Not a full size one anyway. But I am loving this whole patchwork business. What’s not to like about cutting little scrappy pieces of fabric up, stitching them together and making something useful or enjoyable (or both!) Doona covers still don’t sound as exciting as a quilt, but for these three purposes they suited me better. So covers it was.

The hippy one (top- just in case you weren’t sure) screams flared pants, orange flowered coffee cups and …excuse me a minute while I part my hair down the middle, plait it and then go afro Mr Chocolate’s hair up. I can very much deal with that, as well… it says it all in the blog title doesn’t it?

These two scream practical. Two Monkey doona covers that were either old and very unexciting or unexciting and looked old. Either way, a doona cover suited their The Monkey’s sticky fingers over a quilt and a little upcycling was in order. Chop, chop, chop… and we are in Monkey business.

Now, what else can I cut up and turn into something else?….

a fairy sunrise

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 There is always something magical about watching a new day start. Watching the light change, the silence…followed by the new day sounds.

The shadows shift. Every blade of grass glistens with a night time story. Webs are shown off, with gentle subtle perfection.

Surely this is where tales of fairies emerge. Dainty toes traipsing across silken lines. Single dew drops to wash clean tiny fairy faces.

Soft sunlight pushing the shadows away.

This is where it begins.


Cashew Chia Date Roll

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My local deli has these lovely dried fruit rolls that cost a whole bunch, look lovely and don’t have a whole lots of ingredients in them. So I decided to see if I could do a version. An easy snack, or pre-dinner nibble with some cheese.

Cashew Chia Date Roll

2 tbls chia

1 tbls water

100g raw cashews

150g dried dates

Combine the chia and water together , leave for 5 minutes to soak in. Blitz all ingredients up in a small hand held blender. (This was a bit of a pain as it kept sticking, but keep at it.)

Scoop the mixture on to some cling film and then roll it into a log shape. Store in the fridge, and slice as needed.

sometimes it’s hard throwing snakes out the window

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A recent long road trip saw The Monkeys in the back of the car squabbling.

Not the kind of squabbling that can easily be ignored, and conversation continued on and over. No. The kind that needs a turn of an adult head, a slight narrowing of the eyes and some tough words thrown at them. Yep, tough words.

Nope. Didn’t work.

Step two. Explain to them this is how it was going to work. If things continued like this, and at that noise level of bickering, desperate measures would have to be taken… Yep, desperate measures.

Nope. That didn’t work either.

Step three. Ok, really desperate measures.

Jelly snakes.

I first read of this drastic measure on Myrtle & Eunice. I laughed so hard reading it, and vowing it was a brilliant idea and was sure to be used on our own road trips down the track. Well here we were, down the track.

Crunch time. With noisy arguing kids in the back, a long way still to drive, and a bag of jelly snakes on my side. Well it was time wasn’t it…

It was jelly snake time.

The rules were simple. Every time they yelled/ argued/ annoyed one of us. A snake would lose it’s life. Tossed out the window without a second thought. The Monkeys looked on with wide eyed horror as the rules were laid out. Surely mama wasn’t serious?….

It was quiet… for a whole two minutes, and then the inevitable had to happen. The squabbling started up again and a snake had to go. No more warnings, no more threats, no more laying down of the rules. The rules were set and they had just been broken. Quickly and painlessly the snake was thrown. There was a collective gasp from all of us. From The Monkeys realising I had actually followed through with it and from Mr Chocolate and I on the realisation that there was no way I could slip that snake from its precarious open window seat to Mr Chocolate’s willing and open mouth.

The snake was thrown and peace reigned for the next three hours.

It only took the one.

*And I am very sorry to the person driving behind us who got a surprising jelly snake splat on his windscreen.

eggs two ways- Frugal Friday

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Eggs are always a quick and easy thing to prepare. Cool or warm weather, these little fellas are easily adaptable to what ever your taste buds fancy.

For warmer weather or an easy lunch try and egg salad. Dictated by what’s in season, what’s in the fridge and pretty much what you fancy eating.

Egg Salad

boiled eggs

lettuce

celery

walnuts

parmesan shavings

olive oil

Baked Eggs

In a baking dish add some tomato passata or left over pasta sauce. This one was a eggplant and zucchini pasta sauce. Make some slight hollows and crack the eggs in. Bake at 200 until golden. If you like your eggs still runny, bake until just the whites are cooked. Serve with some crusty bread.