Late Post

From Stiks' birthday barbeque

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