Sautee mushrooms in olive oil with salt, pepper and thyme. Turn off heat, but whilst pan is still warm add crumbled fetta, diced tomato, grated beetroot, radiccio cut into ribbons and lots of lemon juice.
Polenta made with a pinch of chilli flakes to make it less, sort of... pudgy. Then piled with mushrooms and onions sauteed with thyme and sage, poached eggs and a truckload of parsley.
Frühling
Two meals
Cooking with Saskia in Flinders - roasted fennel, roasted pumpkin with onions, rosemary and garlic cloves, and steamed aspragus with avocado and lemon. Some earthiness and some freshness for the transition into Summer.
One of those, I don't feel like cooking on my own for just myself, so I will make the fastest fresh meal possible, dinners. Garlic and green beans fried gently in olive oil, then mushrooms added, then loads of chopped parsley and chives, quinoa, salt, pepper and the juice of a whole lemon. Goodness.
anarchist organic
Inspired by the Foodmaiden I've started fetching a $10 vegie box from the food co-op at Jura Anarchist Bookshop. So close to home, and marks a big shift in my cooking habits - needing to use what's there rather than trooping out to buy what i feel like. This first box smelt sweet as the springshine...
gojiberrieberandie
james and liv invited me to make drinks for the launch of their much awaited EVERGREEN publication issue 001 so we decided to make this delicious mixture of goji berry infused brandy infused for 2 weeks with one split vanilla pod and a little sugar syrup to round it out.
heartening thrilling detoxifying
i think people liked it
lentils & thistles
Bracing for the winter months and vowing to try out more new cook-ups, but Sunday dinner was a happy, whoever was in the fridge affair...
* puy lentils slow cooked with carrot, zucchini, lots of good dried oregano, mint & topped with Dodoni feta and olives
** baked pumpkin and cauliflower (my new favourite thing, baked cauliflower)
*** thistle greens gleaned on an excursion to the ever interesting Rockdale (prime op-shopping, burek and continental vegetables). Greens boiled and dressed with oil, lemon, garlic, s&p thanks to combined tips from Spiros & the grocer. Quite silky ~ delicious!
**** radish & cucumber for some crunch, dressed with oil, lemon, sherry vinegar & the last shakes of dulse.
Some food we've been eating lately.
Frittata -
several eggs, grated carrot, grated red cabbage, grated zucchini, parsley, turmeric, chilli, pepper, salt, cumin mix
Cold Soba Noodles + Fennel salad
dressing: almond paste, soy, mirin, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, a little bit of boiling water,
sesame seeds, spring onions
Pizza -
with polenta base, goats cheese, tomato, rocket, olives, vegetarian hot salami, basil
Leek and Potato soup!
PIE FLOATER!
Travelling far? Then eat something from yr hometown before you go
This is my farewell meal for Josh 
Pea Soup
500g Split Green Peas - rinse and drain then left soaking for 24 hourss
1 Lemon
Ginger
Garlic
I whole leek - sliced and sauteed with the garlic and ginger
Tamari/Soy Sauce
Wine Vinegar
Ground Pepper
Cup Of BonSoy
Half a Litre of Water
No need to use exact measurements - cook to taste - sautee leek,ginger and garlic, throw in split peas and water, boil then simmer till soft, add lemon, pepper, soy sauce, bonsoy and blend - bring back to heat and simmer till serving
We used La Panellas vegan pies on High st but you can also get meat ones or bake your own
Float the pie - stab with yr thumb and cover in Tomato Sauce
I was trying to think of different ways of cooking tempeh today because i always tend to fry them with soy and it becomes a little unexciting especially when you have to work through a whole slab of tempeh by yourself. So i tried baking them and it turned out really well. the mixture is: mustard, curry powder, salt, honey/agave mixed together and then dip tempeh strips into them and put them in the oven and turn when they start to brown. i also poured some hot water into the bowl with the remaining mixture and used a brush to apply the rest to the other side when it got dry. Also red cabbage and beetroot salad - yum!!
probably my favourite meal to share,19 Smith Street in Chinatown Singapore, the la mian noodles are made by the owner of the shop who stands in the kitchen in the back of the shop working the noodles into long lengths, and slightly varying widths. The la mian with been pork sits on 2/3 of the noodle surface and shredded cucumber takes up the rest. These noodles have a joy that it's hard to find in food. I love them.
my dad showed me this restaurant years ago and i go there more than anywhere else, except the pool and kinokunya, when i'm in the city. when you sit down the co-owner, noodle maker's wife, brings you pickled vegetables that are gritty with crushed nut and spicy and sweet. The pineapple tastes amazing with the cold sweet tea.
For Ian Brackenbury Channell
In spite of my present interest in gastronomical economy, brought on by the morbidly high cost of quality foodstuffs due to this alien heat, I sometimes feel the need to break the misery of the market and cheer myself up with a small treat now and then (even if it is a little meretricious – if only you could see what I really feed upon.)
I first came across this recipe when I was living at Albion St but never could make it due to the scarcity of some of the ingredients at the time. I am not sure of its origins but strongly suspect that the Golden Bough would point the finger at Bel-tein hence my posting at this time of year. Some friends will know of my fondness for this recipe, and some of them will murmur the word cholesterol under their breaths – but like many another I cannot pay any attention to that for this is a good recipe to know of and has an air of barbaric luxury to it.
THE COLLOSSAL EGG
1 sheeps bladder
1 bulls bladder
48 eggs separated into whites and yolks.
Put into a sheep bladder 48 egg yolks and sew shut. Submerge in boiling water until yolks have set as a semi firm sphere. Peel bladder and place yolk ball aside.
Place some whites in a rounded bowl slightly smaller than the bulls bladder and double boil. Remove when set, and place cooked whites inside the bulls bladder. Sit the yolk upon this biscuit of whites and fill the bladder with the remaining egg white. Sew shut and submerge in boiling water until whites have set. Peel and serve in a large wooden bowl of straw.
For the first time in a long time , i set out to cook something not knowing exactly what i wanted to make - only that it had to incorporate brown rice sweet potato and broccoli. While the rice was boiling, i changed my mind too many times and what resulted from a rough plan of porridge, and then to soup was an accidental risotto. Just boil brown rice with sweet potato for a while then add broccoli and chickpeas, then add a spoon full of white miso, dash of soy, pepper and sambal. Garnish with sesame seeds, spring onions and parsley. LEKKER!
Also you may have noticed my use of the same bowel in several photos. That is because all the plates and bowels in the house have pink rainbow swirls on them and this is the only one which doesn't.
'Japanese'
Sometimes I cook these meals which I call Japanese, and there are indeed many Japanese ingredients involved, but somehow they are so Australian, too.
The Norwegians used to ask me what typical Australian food is, and other than things like damper, vegemite and anzac biscuits, this is the kind of food I think of, with origins in any number of cuisines, but full of freshness...
Kangaroo fillets cut into strips and marinated in mirin, apple cider vinegar, sesame oil and tamari, then braised with onion; avocado with lemon; blanched green beans; pickled ginger; carrot and cucumber salad.
bats love mangoes
My neighbour Elizabeth dressing her mango trees to try and thwart the bats, who are visiting nightly. I love this garden! The view from my kitchen window & she grows so many interesting things down there. I scored all this green fruit in the anti-bat efforts, which have ripened up beautifully on the sill
Some food i've been eating lately.
grilled salmon soaked in dressing made from soy sauce, mirin, ginger, and a sugar alternative, i use agave, white wine or vinegar or white wine vinegar. i'm also really obsessed with sweet potato at the moment. They are best wrapped in foil and roasted in the oven until they are soft in the middle - it reminds me eating them from street venders in china
I don't really eat out much here because everything is so super expensive. but occasionally i splurge. This was really nice - pumpernickel bagel with goats cheese, honey, walnuts and thyme. what a combination!
I bought this one jar of cashew paste and i just use it in everything as a butter or cream replacement. I made this dish with Tempeh, mushrooms, spinach - it was really delicious.
Since i've been in Amsterdam, i've started to realise how many australian products i eat and use on a regular basis. The other day i went to the Noordermarkt which is an organic market that sells the MOST amazing bread and cheese and nuts, and fresh produce. I saw that one of the stalls, the had bonsoy, and i've come to the conclusion that it really is still the most unbeatable soymilk in the world i think. The other one is teatree oil, i still use that all the time. and of course, macadamia nuts. There's this brand of ice cream here with chains of stores in several locations called 'Australian', it's homemade ice cream, but i have a feeling it is only a holland phenomenon.
LITTLE BIT OF EARTH
MISO SOUP
i guess its with that end of summer/change of season thing that i get drawn to soups... miso soup especially at the moment; quick to make, earthing, hearty (yet light) and warming.
i start with either of two methods
01. make a sort of dashi broth with water, tamari, mirin, ginger (whole if i'm being lazy or grated), 2 or 3 whole shiitake mushrooms and a 2 inch stick of kombu. after simmering for some time i add a little bit of ume vinegar (to add a pungent element) then add vegetables
02. if i feel like something a little bit richer, i like to fry soaked and drained finely sliced shiitake mushrooms and ginger (sometimes half an onion) in a little bit of toasted sesame oil, then add other ingredients to make broth + vegetables
++ the vegetables i usually like in miso soup are jap pumpkin, radish (whole or cut in half) or daikon, carrot, corn (cut with cob... cob adds heaps of sweet flavour to the stock, i sometimes add a cob if i have one to the stock anyway), wakame and lately just before serving i add finely chopped kale
++ i add the miso paste (i prefer either barley or rice miso from spiral) to each bowl and add enough hot stock to it to mix through then add the soup and stir through. its good not to boil miso as this kills the good stuff (acidophulus etc.)
++ i like to serve with a few drops of sesame oil, finely sliced spring onions and as i haven't had any kombu or wakame lately, a sprinkle of dulse flakes.
++ if i have used kombu i like to take it out of the stock and cut a few thin slices to add to each serve. i do someting similar to the shiitake mushrooms if i have used them whole in the stock.
++ also you can make the stock without vegetables and keep and use to make fresh batches of soup daily
mallung meal
DHAL with RADISH GREENS MALLUNG, TOMATO + ONION SALAD & LIME PICKLE on BURGHUL
[leftovers for lunch today ~ even better than last night. Save for the mallung, which was amaaazing freshly made]
DHAL
--onion fried with the usual spices [bay & curry leaves, mustard seeds, garam masala, turmeric, cardamon, cumin, coriander]
--stir in a cup or so of lentils + garlic & chilli + pepper
--two veg... i had cauliflower & zucchini
--bit of stock then water
--cook til melted together nicely
--season along the way with splashes of mirin + tamari
MALLUNG
he.marli's recipe from the 'pickings' comment OR with a bare pantry i got away with:
--oil flavoured/fried with a whole garlic clove (fine chopped onion is better)
-- add fine sliced radish greenery (or anything else green, or cabbage)
--fry together with a few tablespoons dessicated coconut, turmeric, dried chilli, big pinch of salt & lemon juice to moisten.
--done when greens are cooked... not long
TOMATO & ONION
--fine sliced onion + tomato + juice of a lemon + a little oil + S & P
--mix it with your hands
eaten on coarsish BURGHUL cooked absorption method with a little stock ~pearl barley is even nicer. Both lighter than rice.
with my favourite head-clearing LIME PICKLE ~ Fern's is the best!
chickpea soba noodles
who knew chickpeas and buckwheat noodles would go so well together!
onions
garlic
carrots
mushrooms
spinach
mirin
water
vegetable broth/ stock
chickpeas
soba noodles
white miso paste
to be added in that order roughly.
1 2 3 GO
WHITE RICE/PAN FRIED MUSHROOMS with LEMON THYME/CUCUMBER, SNOW PEA and AVOCADO SALAD/PERSIAN KALE/CHICKPEAS with HARISSA and PUMPKIN/OVEN ROASTED TOMATOES and BASIL/ROASTED POTATOES
last week renee and i decided to make a meal together. we shoppped separately but then cooked in the kitchen together, consulting each other but not really with any grand plans. like those rare times when you have a potluck (rarely lucky) and everyone by some collecitve consciounsce brings just the right amount of each course and the flavours seem to sing together (more or less), we syncopated. the meal evolved effortlessly and flavoursomly.
WHITE RICE
a japanese friend of mine taught me how to cook rice, slightly more involved than most methods but worth every grain filled morsel
meth
++ rinse thoroughly 2cups of white rice (i like short grain) until it runs clear (the white suff that runs out is apparently talc...)
++ soak for 20-30mins, then drain
++ bring 2cups of water to a boil in a pot with a well fitted lid and add the rice placing the lid back on
++ bring back to the boil, then immediately turn flame down to lowest possible flutter and place a flame tamer under your pot if you have one (really useful for dispersing the heat evenly on low flames)
++ cook for 20mins (without ever removing lid) then bring flame up to full again for 20 seconds (slighlty toasting the bottom layer of the rice) then remove from heat
++ leave for 5 more minutes then remove lid and fluff rice up to release the steam
quick snack options with freshly cooked rice (white or brown)
++ toasted seeds (pumpkin/sunflower/sesame) + umeboshi + flaxseed oil (stoney creek farm is my favourite) + dulse flakes or fresh parsley
late night pickings
Even a bolting, forgotten garden is a blessing in busy times...
Prize radish + rocket-cos-mizuna.
Interested in tips on how to use the radish greenery? So lush & folic.
Ceramic cuts
Rory brought back this ceramic knife from Japan. The blade is made of zirconium oxide which the Kyocera website tells me is second in hardness to diamonds. The knife is really light but has a good central balance, it cuts exceptionally, and although the handle is ugly slate toned plastic it is entirely ergonomic and comfortable. The range is also produced with a black blade, but the white is super attractive - slightly iridescent with the calcareous quality of a cuttlefish bone.
Schweetums
This is what's classified in Norway as something light to finish off a meal (of mutton ribs, mashed swede and boiled potatoes):
A slab of cream thickened with lime juice. Garnish.
BTW, Sonsa's on Smith Street have the most amazing pomegranates at the moment.
Drunken ostentatious dessert at bourgie rooftop expat bar in Kuala Lumpur:
And the best kind of dessert, or breakfast for that matter - Matthew's aunt's mulberry tree:
people should.....
today i feel like i'm getting a cold,
and i thought:
why don't people serve freshly brewed ginger tea everywhere?
...especially in a climate as cold as this gets.....
people should serve this in cafes!
so now i'm home this is what i'm doing, washing and slicing ginger, and simmering it in water in a lovely little pot until it is so hot, and then drinking it with some honey and some lemon.
more! from the broadway markets
once again, the lure of the market pulls me on a saturday morning, but
this time lucky enough to have Petra visit from Figures for a weekend
of eats and constant treats! yeah.
the booty we schlepped back from the market;
english cox apples (usually hate them in australia - always mushy, but here so crisp and complex and just delicious)
apple-pear juice
spelt bread
harissa
olives stuffed with garlic
daikon root
black-kale
cabbage
fennel
broad beans (so sweet...)
beets
shallots
goats cheese-loggins, moulded like a blue cheese
and what we whipped up:
spelt bread with goats cheese, tapenade and harissa:
fennel salad: ( i think i've eaten this salad on average, like, 3 times a week for the last 10 years its my absolute favorite flavour....)
- 1 bulb fennel sliced really finely
- lemon zest (finely sliced rind of lemon)
- lemon juice
- sliced kalamata and green olives
- parsley
- olive oil
- sea salt and pepper
++whip up olive oil with lemon juice, zest, S&P
++ add the fennel, olives and parsley
++ mix and serve!
------------------------------------------------------------
we also sauted black-kale with:
++ shallots in olive oil, sauteded til soft and golden
++ add some salt and pepper and more olive oil
++ add in some fresh fresh sweet braod beans (i like them double shelled but petra likes them single....so this recipe has single shelled beans), cook up quickly
++ add in ripped up black-kale (i take out the stalks coz they are hard to chew)
++ then add some freshly chopped tomatoes and a bit more olive oil, cook a tiny bit more til it looks good to eat
Banana Cornbread
____________
I combined a few different recipes to make this
it worked out quite well if you like dense bread with no butter and sugar.
2 cups cornmeal
4 ripe bananas
2 tsp baking powder
cinnamon
maple syrup or molasses (if you want it to to be sweet, but i also like it plain)
nutmeg
ground cloves
milk/ water
I'm really addicted to (food in general at the moment), but especially macadamia nuts - so tasty.
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