reassurred…

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Not particularly assured when seeing a small slug casually amble out of the kitchen sink after washing spinach for dinner and then using it all in the cooking… Did you have a friend oh slug, did you?…did you?

Reassured to find there wasn’t a whole lot of guilt at all about opening up a friends packet of marzipan chocolate she had given me, propping it up on my chest, while laying down to read awhile, before the afternoon rush… Was rather lovely actually.

Feeling far from assured when listening to someone make comments to you that feel less than polite, to smile awkwardly, walk away and wonder how people can be so rude and thoughtless…

Reassured, when Little Monkey rides his much anticipated first horse and then falls off after it bolts when a kid behind it waves a huge stick, has one minute of a cuddle and then gets back on…. Heart. In. Mouth. (Double. Hip. Spica. Cast!)

Not at all assured the first time I cut into a blood orange when I was a teenager. There was obviously something really wrong with it… Thank I goodness I learnt the ways of the blood orange…Happy blood orange season.

Reassured to find that the Goat Curry I had made was a really big pot full and would feed us for several days, and it was delicious…now, if only The Monkeys thought so.

*******

What have you been reassured by lately?

Goat Curry

In a large pot add

a good slurp of vegetable oil and your spices

2 tsp turmeric

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp coriander

2 tsp brown mustard seeds

1 tsp cardamom

1 large knob of fresh diced ginger

1 large diced onion

Fry until fragrant for a few minutes and then add your goat meat, (I used 2 shanks, as I didn’t want it particularly meaty). Fry until meat is well coated.

Then add 800mls canned tomatoes, and rinse then can out with another 400mls of water. Then add a large diced eggplant, ( or other vegetables). A small handful of kaffir lime leaves. Cover and simmer for about an hour.

Then add 400mls of coconut milk, season to taste and simmer for a further hour or so. Or until meat comes away from the bone, (or if using regular diced meat, until it becomes soft and tender.)

Serve with basmati rice and a dollop of natural yogurt.

little brothers

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Little brothers are for

teasing

laughing with

talking to

wrapping up in boxes

sending boxes to

having long phone coversations with

asking for help in sticky situations

wrestling

 admiring

and most of all…

loving them

because they’re not afraid of anything

and that’s your brother

********

I’m lucky enough to have my own little brothers, and for my boys to be little brothers.

Apple and Oat Bread

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I quite like the process of trying to work out what to put in a new bread every few weeks.

There are the regulars of course, like a well worn pair of slippers that I know how to just slip on. Making it is straight forward, I can easily do it with out that much thought behind it, and I know for the most part how it’s going to taste (sourdough does like to keep me on my toes a little though.) When I’m fiddling with different flavours though, I like the balancing act, the unknown factor…

It’s a bit like ordering from a menu in a foreign language. You think you get the idea of what it will taste like, and what it is that you might be ordering but there is always that element of surprise just waiting to be brought to the table.

Now in the past, I had played with using fresh apples a few times. I had cooked them beforehand, thinly sliced them, made them into chunks, grated them, but I think I’ve decided I like finely diced the most. You still get the apple-y taste, without it getting soggy and overly all apple. Grating the apple, while I like the moistness it gives to the loaf, I do find by doing this it loses the flavour a bit. So diced it was for this one, add some soaked oats, a little spice and we are away…

 Apple and Oat Bread

200g starter

100g finely diced apple

425g bakers flour

100g whole oats

50mls hot water

200mls water

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp coriander

1 tsp salt

Soak oats in the hot water until they plump up. Add all ingredients except salt. Mix well, let if it rest for about 40 minutes, add the salt mix again.

Proof for awhile, quick knead, proof, shape, proof. Bake at 240C with steam.

This post submitted to yeastspotting.

Lemon and Rhubarb Pie

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Tarty. Very tarty.

Not in a fishnets, leather and red stilhetto kind of way. More eye squinty, and lip smackable. Just the way I like it.

When I cook, I usually have someone in mind, with whom I’m trying to appeal to their taste buds. Fried rice, with all the vegetables raw and lined up on the side, that would be The Monkeys. Pasta after a really busy day at work, with floating double smoked bacon, followed by two blocks of his favourite chocolate? Well clearly that would be Mr Chocolate.

This time around though, and it was all about my taste buds. I had pie on my mind, rhubarb in the fridge and a bench full of backyard lemons that were all yelling one thing to me. Make me into something delicious!

So I did. Something for me and my tastebuds. A little selfish? Oh hell no. They get enough Monkey friendly, Mr Chocolate friendly things to eat. Of course they were more than welcome to eat the tarty fruity pie in front of them, and if they didn’t like it… well, not much of tragedy there really is there?

Little Monkey tried it. Monkey Boy tried it.

Both scoffed it down and would like another piece please. Oh…didn’t quite make it tarty enough now did I.

Mr Chocolate tried it, and did the eye squint I was expecting from him, yep, it’s good, but you know it’s not really my thing… thank goodness for that.

Now I just had to muscle the two kids out of the way for that last piece.

Lemon Rhubarb Pie

Pastry

200g cold cubed butter

300g plain flour

110g natural yogurt

50g sugar

1 tsp white vinegar

In a processor add flour, sugar and butter. Pulse until resembles bread crumbs. Tip into a bowl adding the remaining ingredients, mix together and then give a quick  knead on a lightly floured surface then cover and pop into the fridge.

Rhubarb

1 bunch of rhubarb

100g sugar

Trim edges, and cut into equal lengths, pop in a pot with the sugar over a medium heat, and cook until rhubarb has disolved to rhubarby mush. Put aside.

Lemon mixture

100mls lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbls cornflour

100mls water

Mix cornflour and water together, then add to remaining ingredients in a pot. Whisk over a medium heat until mixture thickens.

Roll out your pastry on to lightly floured bench, and then line a greased pie dish with it. Layer the lemon mixture on, then the rhubarb. Roll out a second pastry top and slit it, gently pulling it sideways to open up a little. Press down the edges and bake at 180C for about 50minutes.

sunshine, bare toes and biscuits

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Sunshine. A whole bundle of it.

24C and it’s still another month of winter to be had. I think the winter season might have other ideas though…

That’s all people, we gave winter a red hot go. You all wore your scarves, your gumboots, your big jackets, and complained a whole lot. The other seasons and I have had a little regroup and decided that spring may as well pop on over as they wasn’t much else happening in her neck of the woods anyway. Enjoy. 

Fair enough I say. Enjoy we shall. You can’t really complain about clear blue skies, and a warming sun on your back to warm some tired old bones. Tired old bones this week as the Little Monkey and I have been wallowing a little in self pity. Trying to fight off a rotten cold that just won’t seem to go away. I tried wallowing for a little, it didn’t much work for me though. Monkey Boy still needed to get to school, Mr Chocolate was busy working and dinner still needed to be on the table. Nope, wallowing had to be put aside. Besides, Little Monkey was far sicker and needed a calm hand to help him through it all, as he really was feeling miserable this week.

Biscuits helped. I thought they might. Jam ones in the middle… but they didn’t help enough, (that’s when I know the little fella is really sick.) They helped Mr Chocolate and Monkey Boy though, as they happily ate his biscuits.

Then the week came to an end and so did the cold. A lingering cough for the little fella, but he’s right back to looking for his biscuits.

So an afternoon snack, packed off to the local park for  some sunshine, bare toes and biscuits.

Coconut Jam Drops

200g softened butter

1 tsp vanilla

75g raw sugar

90g desiccated coconut

150g self raising flour

75g plain flour

splash of milk- (approx 2 tbls)

jam

Soften butter, cream vanilla and sugar together. Add the other ingredients and mix well. Roll them into tight little balls and use something lying around the kitchen to make a little indentation for the jam to go in. 1/4 of a teaspoon or so of jam popped in and bake at 180C for about 20 minutes.

seven

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I was linked up by the wonderful blog Bagni di Lucca for a look at seven of my older posts. I don’t usually do award things (as I’m a bit of a poop), but this wasn’t anyway and I really was interested in what had worked, what hadn’t, and just a general going through the archives as did Bagni di Lucca and other bloggers before her.

So I looked, and this is what I came up with…

1. Most Beautiful post.

I still think of the two little old ladies that I wrote of in this post from time to time, wondering how they are… A little Sunshine in your Sunflower Bread.

Sunflower Bread

2. Most popular post.

This was a tricky one to decide on as I wasn’t sure how to define it. Tasmania was certainly popular though. It seems a lot of people have similar dreams of Tasmanian holidays or possibly a lifestyle change. Keeps me inspired just reading what others had to say…Tasmanian wanderings.

3. Most controversial post.

It’s been a while since I wrote something a little controversial, so it was good to re-read this one. I loved the fact that so many people were willing to comment on how they felt on the topic… Meat…could you? would you? 

4. Most helpful post.

A lot of people come looking for Love Cake, (with a name like that, it’s rather tempting) so I guess that’s helpful. Along with tips on using Bicarbonate Soda, which is also helpful…maybe just not used together…. Sri Lankan Love Cake

Sri Lankan Love Cake

5. Most surprisingly successful post.

Actually this recent one on eating through kids books, thrilled me that so many people felt in a similar way. I loved reading every single comment, as this was a topic really close to my heart and I could have waffled on for quite a while…. Eating through kids books.

Kingcup Cottage

6. Most underrated post.

This one was back in the early days of blogging…Why cafes and kids simply don’t mix.

7. The post I am most proud of.

I’m still happy with this one. It was a post I did when the blog was still fairly new once again. I really enjoyed researching it though, as this is my family through the dinner plate ages… Evolution of Frugal Food

For the next part I thought I would mix it up a little, and instead choose seven posts from seven different blogs that I have really enjoyed over the past seven weeks. Go on, take a peek, I think you’ll love them too.

Che and Fidel– I’m a sucker for a newborn, especially a perfect little one like this…sigh.

Just the here and now– this gal makes me think, especially if you have a look at her 21st July post.

Myrtle and Eunice– pom pom bombing? This inspiring lady makes me want to find my nearest tree and pretty it up a little.

Richard Tulloch’s life on the road– I had no idea that I wanted to go to Iceland, now I know I do. Stunning.

Rufus’ Food and Spirits Guide– Peach margarita’s surely would have to be definitive summer…which is kind of nice as it’s winter here.

She of 108 Names– food markets Chiang Mai style. We still reminisce about the street side roti with condensed milk wrapped in newspaper… So good.

Spice and More– the imagery of riding a bicycle through Denmark and eating strawberries from the front basket pedalling along, was wonderful.

* Oodles more wonderful posts over the past seven weeks from lots of other bloggers around… It was rather hard to whittle it down to just seven.

It’s all feeling a little Nordic

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Something had been reignited again. It started with a holiday and then snowballed from there.

I’ve been reading.

Congratulations, I hear you mutter. But really it is a big thing. Books were getting piled up in ambitious piles and not moving. The newspaper was taunting me.

Then it all changed. Three books in three weeks and the ball was rolling, really quite fast. They were fat books too. The most I had been reading before that, was the back of the peanut butter jar… Even that was skim reading.

So what got me going again?

Stieg Larsson. The Millenium triology.

Goodbye Monkeys, goodbye Mr Chocolate, goodbye tv, *ahem* goodbye cityhippyfarmgirl blog… hello Sweden and your criminal mysteries.

Thoroughly enjoyed the books, all three of them.

Now with that being said, I have been immersed in all things Scandinavian and my taste buds are calling for food that would be fitting. Rye bread was obviously a must, along with anything else I could make happen.

I had also kept in the back of my mind this beautiful lady’s crisp bread recipe from the beginning of the year. It was time to give that one a go, and I’m so glad I did. They make the perfect base for an open sandwich, and I think they will definitely become a staple around here.

 

Knekkebrod

200g spelt flour

200g whole oats

100g pepita

100g sunflower seeds

100g LSA (linseed, sunflower and almond meal)

25g sesame

350mls water

These are the ingredients I used as it was what I had on hand. I can see how they would be incredibly versatile though, and using any ingredients that you really like. I loved them, and am definitely going to make them regularly now. See here for Turid’s original recipe though.

The Split Pea Soup I suspect is not just restricted to Swedish eating, however Jamie Oliver has a recipe for it in his Swedish section in this great book, and while I adapted it to what I had on hand and my taste buds, the one thing that I think is genius was to put mustard on top. Now, I love my mustard but I would never have thought to add it to a Split Pea Soup, so thanks Jamie.

Split Pea Soup

adapted from Jamie Oliver’s “Jamie does…”

A good couple of slurps of olive oil

add a couple of diced sticks of celery, and an onion

cook it down a little

add 500g of washed split peas

and about 1.5 litres of stock (I use vegetable stock)

1 tsp oregano

and simmer it for about 45 minutes or until soft.

Serve with a dollop of mustard and knekkebrod.

loving right now

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Loving right now

Spring like days, with the warmth of the sun on your back

Stillness

Lying still, body and mind

Blood orange season starting

Long talks with distant friends

Comfortable chats with close by friends

The anticipation of a new album

Hearing Monkey Boy quietly read a story to Little Monkey. Slowly sounding out the tricky words

Being able to walk to a blue ocean,

and breathing her in

********

What are you loving right now?

slowing it down to eat some rye bread

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Sourdough is not a quick process. It’s slow, likes to amble. Take its time. Focus it’s energy on the job on hand and then gradually release all of that sourdoughy goodness. Especially slow in winter. I don’t mind though. I’m in no hurry. The bread and I have no place special to be, and if I did…well the bread can wait. Sourdough is like that. Occasionally moody and a little flighty, but regularly reliable, and keen to just make peace with what ever is happening. I like that.

I had started with a 100% rye from Dan Lepard’s The Handmade Loaf. I took my time, didn’t hurry it along. It turned out ok, but I wasn’t thrilled. Mr Chocolate had mistakenly washed up my 2 tablespoons of crucial gelatinized mix to go on top of the loaf, and it all looked a little too floury. I had been nervous about putting the sticky mass dough in my banetton, so had floured a teatowel to line it instead. The loaf just came out looking like a floured teatowel though. Never mind. I’ll try a again.

Trial one

Second time around and I thought I would tweak the flavours a little. I wanted a more in-depth flavour, and also banished Mr Chocolate from my gelatinized mix at the crucial time. Flavour was better, and I didn’t bother with a banetton, just freeformed a rough round shape and pegged the sides of the baking paper to cradle and support it a little. It did rise, the top looked a little glossy, and several cracks developed while rising…. but it wasn’t quite there yet. What was missing?

Trial Two

Third time around, and the weather was cold. It certainly was going to take longer than the 5 hours recommended to let it rise. Once baked, I left it for 48 hours wrapped in baking paper before I cut into it. This really did seem to help in the development of the flavour, but….

Trial three- it’s getting there. The flavour was certainly there, but not quite there yet…

Fourth go. It tastes good.

I’m done.

Trialing and tweaking I’ve enjoyed doing, but I still find it a bit of a pain to make on account of it being so sticky. The taste is there though. It was really cold the day I made this one and it certainly didn’t double in size. It was a loooong cool prove, probably 12 hours on the bench all up plus 12 hours in the fridge. I’m still sticking with the hand shaping and laying on bakers paper rather than a banetton, I didn’t bother checking the temperature of the boiling water asper Dan Lepard’s instructions, (things aren’t that slow round here.) Just whisked when it’s boiled. I also think wrapping it afterwards is very crucial. The taste is a light sour, really tight crumb and I think the linseed and dark malt flour I added give a bit more depth, to which I like.

It’s filling, it’s good for you, The Monkeys won’t have a bar of it, and that suits me just fine. I can eat my way through it… slowly.

                                                                          

My changed ingredient list is as follows, for the method and some other invaluable notes on Dan Lepard’s more original recipe- jump over to Zeb Bakes. The lovely Joanna made this a little while back and it was really interesting to see what she thought of the same recipe.

100% Sour Rye

adapted from The Handmade Loaf
300g rye starter
75mls cold water
450g gelatinized rye mix
400g rye flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp dark malt flour
50g (1/2 cup) linseed meal, or LSA
gelatinized rye mix- 90g rye flour and 360 mls water
**********
The night before make up the gelatinized rye mix, using just boiled water and whisking flour in immediately. Leave two tablespoons aside for the top of the loaf. Whisk cold water into thr rye starter and then also whisk in the gelatinized mix. Then add remaining ingredients.
On to an oiled surface, try and squish it into the shape you want. Smoothing it round and leave it for 5 (ambitious for me)- 12 hours on a baking paper cradle or banetton. Until it’s risen a bit anyway.
Spread the remaining gelatinized mix on, spray with water and pop in the oven at 210C for about 50 minutes.
******
This post submitted to yeastspotting.

spiced warm hug

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Brown slop. Thats what I hear you say. Brown slop in a pretty bowl….Actually you are right, it is.

But, it’s good brown slop.

Had a light dinner and need a little something else to ease you into the evening?

One spiced warm hug coming up. That’s what this dish is, or that’s what it feels like when you eat it. Warm, nourishing, you can feel those spiced milky arms envelope you. Feeding your inner soul with its goodness of spices and hint of lemon. Giving you the quiet sugar kick that you were after with out crushing all your taste buds in one mighty swoop. Some nights don’t suit chocolate, some nights are a simple curl up on the couch with a spiced warm hug.

Some people might say brown sloppy rice pudding, I say spiced warm hug please.

Spiced Warm Hug

2 cups milk

150mls cream

1/3 cup muscavdo or molasses sugar (or any other dark unrefined sugar)

6 green cardamom pods

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp dried ginger

1/3 cup any short grain rice

1/4 cup sultanas

1 large strip of lemon rind

Bring milk, cream, spices to a simmer, turn it down a little lower, so it doesn’t bubble over. Now add the rest of the ingredients and stir continuously on a gentle simmer for 15 minutes. Then put the lid on the pot, turn off the hot plate and leave it for 20 minutes. Don’t peek, it’s still doing its thing.

Eat on the couch, with a blanket on your lap, and a book by your side.

soup with olive oil parmesan crackers- Frugal Friday

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It’s been awhile since I did a Frugal Friday post. Too long.

It’s winter here, and this week has been wet, rainy, soggy and grey. Perfect weather for soup.

My dad had given me a pumpkin from his garden, and the leeks were looking plump and juicey. Soup it was.

Leek and Pumpkin Soup

A good couple of slurps of olive oil in a large pot

finely chopped leek popped in

cooked until it wilts a little

then drop in your pumpkin pieces

add some water/stock and stick the lid on until soft

whiz it up with a hand mixer

Super basic soup that can be eaten as is or added to. I like adding natural yogurt and tomato chutney on top. Or some thai curry paste if you want a kick in the pants. The best soup is made with great vegetables. If the main ingredient is a tasteless old pumpkin…well the soup is going to taste, tasteless.

Olive Oil Parmesan Crackers

1 1/2 cups (225g) plain flour

1/2 cup (25g) unprocessed bran

1/4 cup (60mls) hot water

3/4 tsp salt

60mls water

80mls olive oil

grated parmesan

black pepper

Add hot water to bran, give it a minute or so to soak in and then in a mixer with a dough hook add all the ingredients and mix until comes together. Parmesan and black pepper put in amounts to your taste (or any other flavours). Knead the mixture for about 10 minutes until you have a stiff dough and then leave covered for about 45 minutes. Roll out to a couple of mm’s and cut what ever shapes you want. Place on a tray and grate extra parmesan over the top. Bake at 180C until light golden and crispy through. Shake them around a bit when you get them out of the oven to pick up any extra parmesan while they are still hot.