In my kitchen this weekend…

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Following on from Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. (A delicious blog where I know if I have any foodie questions, I’m sure she has the answers.) A look at what is happening in my kitchen this sunny weekend.

I made some butter after seeing it on Real Food has Curves. Oh, oh, oh… so soft, so delicate. That really was a something else. Will definitely be enjoying that one.

Getting to flick through my new subscription to Sanctuary magazine… ahhh, so many inspiring houses.

A little espresso action. Maybe, just a tad too much, as things are getting done a lot quicker than they normally would.

Made some bread, to go in a birthday hamper for my sister. I’m still toying with the olive oil dough from the Bourke Street Bakery Cookbook.

Frugal Friday #2

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Its the end of the week again, and the fridge is looking a bit slim. I actually don’t mind when it comes to Frugal Friday, as it’s a bit more of a challenge to make something tasty out of not much.

I have a few different breads on my brain this week. Flicking through the lovely ‘Bourke Street Bakery ‘ cookbook there is much to be inspired by. Each recipe makes my heart swell. If there is any cookbook to lay under my pillow at night this would be the one I would choose.

I have been toying with the idea of making a sourdough starter, but have been holding back as it just seems so much work for something I’m not sure of what I am doing- lazy I know. Also lack of space in this little kitchen. Also lack of time, the monkeys they take a lot of it. Excuses, excuses I know. Who knows maybe next week I will change my mind.

I ever entered a bread phase. All I feel like doing is surrounding myself with beautifully risen doughs. There is something quite soul uplifting in kneading, proving, baking, and then eating a food that has been around for ever. I love the science of it and the fact that one tiny little change can completely change the end result.

I grew up with the smell of fresh bread in the air. My mother would make it every third day for the majority of my child hood. When I think of bread, I think of huge rising mounds of proving doughs, rising on the same table that I made pasta on 2 weeks ago. Filtered winter sun coming through the windows, and the kitchen already warm from loaves already baked. It’s such a feeling of comfort to eat bread still warm from the oven.

So I settled on a olive oil bread recipe in the cook book. A little different to any bread that I had made before, but timing it with a monkey nap I could actually put in the mindful attention that it needed and ‘voila‘. Some happy little bread rolls. Sure they didn’t look exactly like the picture- but thats a only a guide right?… and I reckon the next time they just might though.

So budget meal- yes indeed. Resourcefully using a few ingredients that are floating around the fridge with mutterings of”eat me, please eat me”.

Leek and Potato Soup– In a pot put a lovely dollop of olive oil, 2x sliced leeks, 4x potatoes, some vegetable stock, a little  seasoning- and whizz it up. Doesn’t get much easier than that.

Serve with some delicious warm bread.



Peanut butter and marzipan

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Musing one day I was thinking of what foods would sum me up in a nutshell… (why can I not write that without thinking of Austin Powers- “help, help I’m in a nutshell!”) I digress…

Five foods that are me. Foods that define who I am, what I am all about, combined together equal one city hippy farm girl. Five foods if given a week and could only eat these five foods, I would be quite happy. Five foods (not dishes) that are truly delicious and are me, me, me.

Peanut butter– crunchy, and slapped on so thick your tongue gets lost in the fog of it all. The natural one is the best, when its just crushed peanuts. Just quietly, I have been known to eat just with a teaspoon.

Coffee– Its the ritual, the aroma, the kick, and those damn cute little cups. I wouldnt waste my time with instant, its just not the same. The stove top precolator is my weapon of choice. Never to be rushed, always to be enjoyed.

Marzipan– the texture is quite unique don’t you think. It’s kind of gritty, it’s sweet, your not quite sure, so you have a little more. So the circle continues.

Granola/Muesli– it keeps me going and is just the kind of breakfast (or late night snack) that works for me. Lots of seeds and nuts added. Either eaten just with milk or with a dollop of yogurt.

Sourdough– the grainier and fruitier the better. I seriously will have to be cremated with a whole stack of sourdough when its my time to leave this earth. Then everyone can smell just how delicious sourdough is, when they are thinking of me. (a little odd, but think about it…its a good idea isn’t it.)

What would your top 5 be?

Running to the beat of a birthday cake

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It all started with grappling with my ipod. It wasn’t behaving, wouldn’t go to the next song and was trying to deafen me with the volume. That ipod had firm ideas of what it wanted to do and didn’t want to involve me. It wanted it loud and not to skip any songs. Once I had shown it who was boss, and my running had got some sort of rhythm my thoughts turned to cake… as it so happens sometimes.

As my knees began to complain, and my lungs heaved under the strain, my brain was in its happy place. I was thinking about what cake to make my husband for a birthday coming up. See these sorts of things need a lot of thought time to put in to it. I can’t just make ANY cake. I’m the sort of person that starts planning the week AFTER his birthday what sort of  cake I could make for next year. Odd I’m sure. But I like birthdays, I like making cakes and like thinking about  what sort of deliciousness I can make for the following year… a birthday is a lovely excuse to make an effort.

Something that you are not going to find in the cake tin on a Thursday afternoon, (unless your birthday falls on a Thursday of course.) Last year I made an adapted version of a Tiramisu Cake from Smitten Kitchen- oh my! That was a good one.

As my thought were firmly on cake, (and keeping one foot in front of the other) I did think briefly that there was rather a lot of fog about for this time of year. As the sun rose, it was filtering through looking all mystical and lovely. Fellow exercisers ran on regardless, looking like Tolkien’s orcs running a silent battle run through the mist.

Then my thoughts turned back to the cake.

This year had to involve chocolate (of course.) The man had only one requested key ingredient. As long as it involved chocolate he was happy. Who am I to argue?

Running… what about a simple mud cake….

Running…. doesn’t the sunrise look beautiful….

Running….should the cake have different layers.…

Running….darn ipod.…

Running….butter icing?….

Running….oh look the sun is glinting off the city sky rises- so pretty!….what cake would look pretty?

On it continued until I finally thought of….

A FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE…. Of course.

Dense and moist, chocolatey but delicate.

Chocolate Hazelnut Flourless Cake

200 grams chopped dark chocolate (50%)

150 grams unsalted chopped butter

3/4 cup raw sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk

5 eggs separated

250 grams ground hazelnuts

1/2 tps baking powder

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 tps cinnamon

1/2 tps nutmeg

Melt the chocolate. set aside to cool. Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time. Add buttermilk. Fold in melted chocolate. Add all dry ingredients into the chocolate mixture.

Whisk the egg whites in a bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Pour into 20cm lined cake tin. Cook for about an hour at 170C or until skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle.

Orecchiette

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Italy is very important to me. It’s the country where my adored exchange student family is from. This is where I lived for 6 months as an exchange student when I was 16. This is where I returned to as a 19 year old and again as a 22 year old. This is where I felt loved and valued, and embraced as an Australian sister.

Back then Italy taught me how to short sheet a bed, (well actually my sister did). I tell you hours of giggly fun for two 16 year olds in there!

Italy taught me the love of the espresso. Still to this day 16 years later, when ever I hear and smell that stove top espresso pot percolating quietly I am transported back to Italy.

Italy also taught me the love of the simple margarita pizza. Pizza was never the same again.

If only I had had the interest of food that I have now back then. If I did I would have asked Nonna just how exactly to make those delicious Pugliese thumb pressed pasta pieces, known as orecchiette. I ate it with gusto. If only I had the foresight to ask how she made it 16 years before. I would kill now for a hands on pasta lesson from Nonna in the beautiful region of Puglia.

This week I was struggling to find a great orecchiette recipe. The recipe seems to vary a lot from equal parts flour to water and rest over night to 4:1 ratio. So I harnessed the Italian nonna within and decided to gauge it myself. Using a fine semolina, tepid water and a little salt. It was quite a hard dough, and was a bit of a labour of love. Usually I wouldn’t be able to designate this long to cook but the monkeys were napping and then other adults were on hand to entertain while I finished off. (We had gone away for the weekend so I was making full use of a much, much larger kitchen and other adults to keep the monkeys out of mischief.)

Quietly, and methodically rolling and knifing.

It was so quiet. The laugh of a far off kookaburra, the air outside so still, and the pesistant buzz of wandering fly.

Knead, cut, roll, slice, knife…..knead, cut, roll, slice, knife…. until half the table was filled with many beautiful ‘little ears’.

These are the quantities that I ended up using, which produced some happily eaten pasta. Possibly would vary with the type of flour that you use- so go slowly and jiggle.

900 grams fina semolina flour

400mls water

1 dessert spoon salt

Make a well on the bench with the flour and salt, slowly pouring in the water and mixing it to a stiff dough. Knead until smooth.

Cut off a portion, then roll into a long snake, then slicing off small portions. Then pressing down with a knife, push until the little circle starts folding in and looks like a thumb hat. It needs quite a bit of pressure. Orecchiette should be thiner on the bottom with thicker sides to hold the sauce. This is not a smooth pasta.

Would Nonna approve?… not sure.

Does it look right?… a little ‘rustic’ but passable.

Would it pass the  Italian taste test?….?

Will I make them again?….. yes indeed.

Farmers Markets- a love story

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Farmers Markets. Oh how I love you all.

Good ones that is. The ones where it really is locally produced food. Food that has been made with love and care. Food that isn’t mass-produced and tastes divine.

Be it a crispy celery picked the day before, a hand crafted cheese, some aromatic fair trade coffee, an organic free range piece of meat, a back yard grown punnet of strawberries or some lovingly tempered chocolate.

I love it all.

There is nothing that gets me happier than a morning spent in a great Farmers Market. I feel like a kid in candy store. The promise of all things delicious. I try not to clap my hands with glee, but I tell you, when its a specially good one. A little clapping with glee may happen.

Good food miles- check.

No unneccessary additives- check.

Different ideas- check

Supporting small businesses- check

Super fresh- check

All looks delicious- check

Having recently travelled north for 10 days, I was lucky enough to go to 3 lots of farmers  markets that were just beautifully timed for our holiday. (and yes, I may have planned our holidays around one of them..)

Getting to see what the locals are producing is wonderful, and it’s certainly not long before my purse is hemorrhaging money,  my fridge is looking bountiful, and my tummy is looking rotund.

One of the markets was in Port Macquarie for the Hastings Valley Markets, when a stall caught my eye…

Goat Meat. Now this red meat I had been wondering about for some time. The taste, the cost and where to buy it, as it sure as eggs isn’t bought any where near where I live. So whacked it in the freezer and to be cooked at a later date.

I was also was very happy to see some locally produced garlic. Why is it the beginning of April already and I’m yet to see any Australian garlic in the local shops? It’s the garlic season people! Come on. I don’t want my garlic to be chemically treated and come from Argentina, China, and Mexico if it doesn’t have to.

Some gorgeous tomatoes were bought. Tomatoes that actually taste like a tomato, and has not had the taste bred out of them in order to look good. These were knocked back as quick as I good get them out of the bag by the monkeys.

I love buying things that I’m not sure what they are, or have heard off but not eaten or cooked before.

Its the taste sensation possibility factor that I love the most.

I didn’t get any great sour doughs. They didn’t seem to be happening which was a bit disappointing as they are a firm favourite with us. However, I did get some knock out individual sticky date puddings the size of tennis balls. Even I, had to pause mid way through eating one of these little beauties that had a grand total of 57grams of fat in each serve. Oh sweet mama!….best not to think of it really. I didn’t, and bravely soldiered on.

I can see all our holidays planned in times to come, planned around when the local foody markets are on.

Farmers markets and possibly where to get a great massage… two very important things when thinking of ones next holiday.

The secret of the picnic

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To me the perfect Sunday is spent under a shady tree in the park, in the company of wonderful people, and with a  scrumptious selection of delicious-ness spread out on a picnic rug before me. Lucky for me this was just how Sunday was spent.

A group of people not seen for 5 years, but the conversation commenced like it was just the day before that we had all gotten together. We had all changed a little. Three little ones that weren’t there last time, some hair was lost, some hair was greyer, some weight was gained, and some was lost. The minor details were incidental, the excitement of being there and not a phone call away was wonderful. Catching up on events, news and wishes. Monkey Boy made a campfire of twigs and cooked us some ‘soup’ and the Little Monkey flaked out in his pram with his little monkey pal.

A gorgeous day followed by coffee and hysterical monkey giggles back at our place.

Thats what I love the most. Easy conversation amongst people that I respect and value their company… (with a little cake on the side.)

Orange and Coconut Cake

Serves 8-10.

2 oranges

185g butter

1  cup sugar

3 eggs

1 cup desicated coconut

1 1/2 cups of self raising flour

Preheat the oven to 160C. Cook the chopped orange flesh up a little until soft, add the grated rind of the two oranges. Process them until lumpy consistency. In to the processor add the butter, sugar, eggs, coconut and flour. Process until smooth.

Line a 22cm round cake tin with non-stick paper. Bake for 1 hour 20 mins.

(Adapted from a Donna Hay magazine recipe)

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.

The week that was…

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The week started off with a little playground action.

Visited the our wonderful local council nursery. So many great plants to buy. Also got some good tips for my worm farm.

Actually I am loving our local council nursery, an un-utilised resource for people. I’m trying to spread the word but I have seen a few glazed eyes as I tell people how great it is. Most people still like to keep to what they know and that’s a chain hardware/nursery supplies shop.

…..then we had  some  playground action.

The old favourite banana cake was made once more. Tried and true and eaten in a day. Its too easy not to make when those bananas are racing out the door in their black coats. And you can dress ’em up or dress them down’.

Depends on my mood whether it’s a sweet banana cake made with brown sugar and is lovely, light and fluffy or it can be a healthy little brick that involves a whole lot of pepitas, sunflowers seeds, linseed meal and honey. I like the brick but the boys like the fluffy.

After the cake was polished off, the monkeys and I had a little more play ground action.

Then some white nectarine jam. I wasn’t sure about this one. I’m not a big fan of white nectarines to begin with. I find them, not particularly juicy and the flavour is a little perfume-y. So when a whole lot of end of season fruit found their way in to my kitchen, I was unsure of what to do with them. So jam it was.

1kg white nectarines

600 ml water

600 gms sugar

juice of 2 lemons

1 large strip of lemon rind

It has actually grown on me. I thought initially it was too tasteless and just sweet in taste. However the next day after it had had time to think about things a little, the subtlty of the nectarine is a bit more apparent. The consistency is great too. Thick and delicious. Actually it was the consistency that made me re- think the whole jam and find something else to like about it. I don’t love it, but it still sure beats a generic shop one.

That ended our week, right after we went to the playground.

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!

Community Exchange System

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Todays post is about giving the local trading network a bit of a mention. Its a great concept, and if more people got involved who knows what could happen!

So what is it?

The Community Exchange System (CES) is a community-based exchange system that provides ways  for its users to exchange their goods and services, both locally and further a field. A global trading network that operates without money.

Say what?… No money?… uhuh.

The CES has no physical currency. So no money changes hands at all.

Around the world these systems may be called-  Community Exchange Systems, Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS), Mutual Credit trading systems or Time Banks.

Here where I am its called LETS. Or Local Exchange Trading Systems.

Every members time is of equal worth. One hour of time is worth 20 ‘operas’ (depends on the area is what they call the currency). Every member has an account that they set up on joining. When Jackson pays Mack 20 operas for a personal training session then it goes into the account. Jackson is -20 and Mack is +20. So Mack has just ‘created’ his own money. Which he can then use for a massage with Julia.

And so on and so forth. There is no limits. Everyone has something to offer and people always want something.

Some examples of what could be on offer.

House cleaning

Babysitting

Personal trainer

Kids face painting for parties

Cakes

Gardening

Holiday accommodation

The possibilities are really endless….