Kitchen Adventures

Mushrooms stuffed with Cottage Cheese

2012-02-28T21:30:00.000+11:00

It's time for another Tuesday Night Vego Challenge!

I love stuffed mushrooms, and do not make them often enough. These ones make the most of some delicious herbs from my garden. This is a low calorie meal but it's very tasty.

Mushrooms stuffed with Cottage Cheese (serves 2)

2 large flat mushrooms
200g low fat cottage cheese
¼ cup finely chopped herbs (parsley, thyme, garlic chives)
salt and pepper
½ small red onion
4 sun dried tomatoes
1 tsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180˚C, and line a baking tray with baking paper. Heat a small non-stick frying pan over a medium heat.

Remove the stems from the mushrooms and place the mushroom caps on the baking tray. Some recipes suggest you peel them and remove the gills, but I don't bother - why waste anything? Just make sure they're clean by wiping with a damp cloth.

Finely dice the mushroom stems, red onion and sun dried tomatoes and sauté in the frying pan with the olive oil until the onion is soft. Remove from the heat and place the cooked vegetables into a bowl. Add chopped herbs, cottage cheese and season with salt and pepper. Mix gently and scoop the mixture into the mushroom caps.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the mushrooms are cooked and the cheese is golden on top. Serve with a green salad (and some crusty sourdough if you like, but we're on a low carb diet).

Stir Fried Veggies Two Ways

2012-02-22T07:24:00.001+11:00

Tuesday night! Time for another Tuesday Night Vego Challenge!
This week's in season veggies are a bunch of Kang Kong, or Water Spinach, Eggplant, Tomato, Basil and Chilli.
Given that I have chillies galore coming in at the moment, I feel like something spicy for dinner. So we're having two stir fried veggie dishes with some steamed brown rice.

Drying chillies in the dehydrator

Sambal Kang Kong
Kang kong is an asian green vegetable. In Indonesia it's often stir fried in a pungent paste of chillies, garlic, dried shrimp, and fermented shrimp paste called belacan. I must admit that I'm not a fan of having really stinky things in my cupboard, so I'm making a vegan version using miso paste instead of the shrimp paste to give lots of umami flavour. The sambal paste makes any stir-fried green vegetable absolutely delicious (and it's also good for tofu). Like all soft green leafed vegetables, a big bunch of kang kong will wilt to almost nothing. My bunch only just fed two.

Kang Kong

1 bunch kang kong
1 pinch sugar
1 pinch salt
1 long red chilli
1 small hot chilli
1 tsp miso paste
1 eschallots
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon red bullhorn chilli

You can de-seed the chillies if you are a chilli wimp, but I left them in this time. Place the chillies, eschalots, miso and garlic in a small food processor and blend until finely chopped. My paste came out like a puree.

Frying the paste

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a wok, then gently fry the sambal paste until fragrant - you don't want the heat too high, or else you will end up with a house full of chilli fumes and bitter burnt garlic. Take your time doing this - you want to evaporate any water out of the paste to the point where it just starts to darken in colour.
Add the kang kong, sugar and salt and stir fry until tender and wilted.

Stir Fried Eggplant with Egg and Tomato

I used this lovely recipe at noobcook.com, with the only change being to use some fresh basil leaves instead of dried ones. Very tasty, and a nice mild contrast to the strong flavours in the sambal. I'd even eat this one for breakfast.

Apple Pikelets for Shrove Tuesday

2012-02-21T12:51:00.000+11:00

Today is Shrove Tuesday. The little boy ate several of these apple pikelets for his morning tea. The custard powder gives the pikelets a lovely vanilla flavour and a nice yellow colour.

½ cup self raising flour
1 tablespoon custard powder
2 tbsp sugar
1 egg
¼ cup milk
pinch of cinnamon
6 dried apple rings, diced
2 tsp melted butter

Mix the flour, custard powder, and sugar in a bowl. Add the egg and blend until it forms a smooth paste. Add milk and mix to form a smooth, thick batter. Add cinnamon and apple.

Cook in a non-stick frying pan brushed with melted butter. This made about 8 pikelets.

Time: 15 minutes

Turkey Meatloaf

2012-02-16T13:56:00.000+11:00

Maybe you're like me, and trying to stick to a budget and save some money after the black hole that is ChristmasNewYearSummerHolidaysBaby'sBirthday.

When it comes to food, meat is an easy target when it comes to saving money. You can buy cheaper cuts of meat on the bone and slow cook them into a tender curry, stew or casserole, then freeze the leftovers for other meals, you can skip the meat altogether and get your protein from tofu or legumes, or you can buy mince and learn ways to make it interesting!

Mini Meatloaf
with braised red cabbage, beans and
potatoes with home-grown pesto

Meatloaf is a good way to make mince go a bit further by adding breadcrumbs, veggies, herbs or even dried fruit and nuts. There are lots of great recipes, and the flavours are limited by your imagination. I'm even being super lazy and putting everything in the food processor so I can catch up on the washing up! Making individual meat loaves means you have some easy leftovers for lunch the next day. If you don't have a mini loaf tin, a muffin tin works well too!

Turkey Meatloaf

500g turkey mince
1 small red onion
1 clove garlic
1 small handful thyme leaves
1 handful parsley
1 grated carrot
1 handful dried cranberries (or other dried fruit)
1 handful blanched almonds
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs
salt and pepper

This is order to put things into the food processor. Give everything a blitz in between, scraping down the bowl as needed.
onion and garlic
grated carrot
cranberries and almonds
herbs and breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
mince and eggs

Blend until the mixture is very smooth, then divide among an 8-loaf mini loaf tin. Bake in the oven at 180˚C for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. You can glaze the tops by brushing with some barbecue sauce or cranberry sauce that has been melted in the microwave (do this half way through the cooking time, and again once they come out of the oven). My mixture made 6 loaves, and a couple of mini rissoles for the toddler.

Cold Soba Noodles with Sides

2012-02-15T15:07:00.001+11:00

Time for another Tuesday Night Vego Challenge!

I've been cooking a lot of Japanese food lately. I'm really learning to appreciate how the different sorts of flavours work together. It's also a great source of ideas for vegetarian meals. Unfortunately this one took longer than 30 minutes to cook, although dealing with a fussy toddler didn't help things. The eggs keep well in the fridge, so you can make a bunch of them on the weekend and eat them during the week. They are DELICIOUS!

In Japan, soba noodles are often eaten cold in summer. As in ice cold, and often garnished with ice cubes! They're served with a sweet/savoury dipping sauce. It's very refreshing, and I've made some for dinner. To go with the noodles are some tasty side dishes: Pan fried Tofu with Miso Peanut Sauce, Purple and Orange Carrot Fritters, Miso Marinated Boiled Egg, and an Edamame and Corn salad.

I'm using kombu stock again today because it's a vegetarian alternative to dashi (fish) stock, and adds lots of flavour.

Miso Peanut Sauce
I like to think of this as a Japanese version of satay sauce. I found the garlic taste was far too strong unless the sauce was cooked.

1 tbsp miso paste
2 tbsp natural peanut butter
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp mirin
2 tsp honey
1 clove garlic

½ tsp grated ginger
pinch of chilli powder to taste
water

Place all the ingredients in a small blender and mix until smooth. Add water until you achieve the consistency you prefer. Pour the sauce into a small saucepan and heat for 3-5 minutes until it starts to bubble. Cool and store in the fridge for up to a week. This is a great sauce dabbed on grilled meat oat or tofu - it's very intensely flavoured, so you only need a small amount.

Purple and Orange Carrot Fritters
Unless the carrots are looking a bit old, you can leave the skin on.

½ orange carrot, finely shredded
½ purple carrot, finely shredded
3 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp tapioca (or corn) flour
kombu stock
1 egg
vegetable oil for frying

Mix the flour together in a bowl, then add the egg. Slowly incorporate the egg into the flour, then add stock or water until the mixture has the consistency of thick cream. Leave to rest for 10 minutes while you shred the carrots, then mix the vegetables with the batter. Shallow-fry heaped tablespoonfuls of the mixture, and drain well on paper towel.

Home made fruity snacks

2012-02-10T16:02:00.000+11:00

My little boy is a big fan of little fruity snack bars. The commercial ones are not cheap (especially the organic ones), so I've been looking into home made versions.

Chewy fruit and oat energy bars

Yummy!

There's some great recipes for these by Camilla at Enlightened Cooking. These would also be fantastic to whip up if you're a sporty type who prefers to nibble little snacks when you have a big event (I never could eat much food on race days).

I'm using dried dates soaked in some warm water for 10 minutes.

This recipe made about 8 little finger sized bars.

⅓ cup dates
⅓cup dried cranberries
⅓ cup sultanas
⅓ cup coconut
⅓ cup quick oats

Process the fruit until very finely chopped, then remove from the food processor. Add the oats and coconut and process until fine. Mix by hand with the fruit to make a smooth ball. Use damp hands to shape the mixture into bars or balls, then keep in the fridge. I imagine these would freeze very well too, so you can just pop one in a lunchbox in the morning.

The best thing I liked about this recipe is that I already had all of these things in the cupboard.

Hot Chillies in Syrup

2012-02-09T16:48:00.000+11:00

The chilli harvest has begun. I have a wonderful variety of birds eye chilli. It is tough as nails, and my original plant has survived attacks by caterpillars and possums, not to mention neglect from me! The chillies start off green, turn black, and then after 6-8 weeks turn red, often within 24 hours. This winter I gave all my chilli plants a severe pruning, and this year I have the biggest crop so far. There's no way we can eat so many chillies, so I am preserving them.

I'm using citric acid to provide the acidity required to preserve the mixture, but without adding the strong flavour that vinegar would - my husband detests vinegar and I want him to eat these!

Wear gloves when preparing chillies, and if you don't like them too hot, then remove all the seeds and the white membrane inside that they are attached to. This is where the capsaicin (the hotness) is concentrated.

Hot Chillies in Syrup

My jar was approx 225ml in volume.

300ml water
300g sugar
1/2 tsp citric acid
14 birds eye chillies, washed and sliced into rounds (with seeds removed from all but two of them)

Heat the water, sugar and citric acid in a sauce pan until the sugar is dissolved, then simmer for 5-10 minutes until the syrup has reduced by about half. Add the chillies and simmer for another 5 minutes, then pour into a hot sterilised jar. Seal the jar in a water bath for 10 minutes - the lid should pop in. Allow to cool and then leave for at least a week before opening. You could add some fresh ginger slices to this recipe for even more flavour.

Once opened, you can use the chillies to add flavour to dishes, as a garnish, or you can use the syrup to add a kick to dressings and sauces.

PS: I saved all the seeds from the chillies to dry out and plant next year!

Harvest Monday

2012-02-06T20:58:00.002+11:00

The terrible weather in Sydney lately has kept me out of the garden, so today I went to inspect the damage from the rain. The tomatoes are really struggling - any that were ripe seem to have split and fallen, and the plants are becoming quite badly affected by mildew. The zucchini also seems to be on its last legs, with powdery mildew on most of the leaves.

The lebanese eggplants, however, are doing marvelously well, as is the basil. It's time to start thinking about what winter crops will go in.

Picked today: 16 lebanese eggplants (approx 650g), 1 large bunch of basil for pesto, 1 corn cob (that may or may not be popcorn), 3 button squash, 50g green beans and 2 radishes, plus 12 chillies from my bumper crop - these are only the first of many, and I have a number of seedlings coming up from last year's chillies too.

Spicy Tofu Hotpot

2012-01-31T23:15:00.001+11:00

Time for another Tuesday Night Vego Challenge.

You don't have to make carrot flowers.

Now that January and its associated festivities are over, the time has come to start working on the new year resolutions. Some wholesome low fat and low carb eating is required. A hotpot is a variety of vegetables and protein simmered in a basic stock. It's more filling than a soup, and the broth picks up all the flavours of the ingredients.

Tofu Hotpot (serves 2)

1/2 bunch gai larn (chinese broccoli)
1 cup shredded cabbag
1/4 red capsicum
1 spring onion
10 carrot slices
100g marinated tofu, thinly sliced (I used Soyco Japanese Teriyaki flavour)
6 dried shittake mushrooms
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp gochujang paste*
500ml kombu stock**
2 tbsp organic tamari soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin

Soak the shittake mushrooms in boiling water for 5 minutes until softened, then remove the stems and slice (using scissors works well for this). Chop the gai larn into 2cm lengths and place in the pot. Layer the other vegetables on top, and garnish with the carrot slices and tofu. Pour over the kombu stock, a little of the soaking water from the mushrooms, and top with a teaspoon of gochujang paste.

Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes on the stovetop or in the oven until all the vegetables are cooked. To serve, add the soy sauce and mirin, then stir well to mix the paste into the broth.

This is "medium hot".

* Gochujang paste is a thick fermented chilli paste from Korea. It's hot, sweet and savoury. You could substitute some miso and chilli powder.

This is instant kombu stock.

** Kombu is a type of seaweed. You can make kombu stock by gently simmering a piece of kombu in water for 5-10 minutes. You can substitute with vegetable stock.

January Challenge: The last day

2012-01-30T14:11:00.000+11:00

Every year around Australia Day, my little family joins up with some other families and we go on a long weekend holiday with the kids. When we first went, it was three couples with one child and one baby on the way. Five years later, it's 4 couples with 8 children and one baby on the way! To say that it's hectic is an understatement, but everyone has fun, so we keep going back.

This year, we celebrated my little boy turning 1 with a party. I made a very special cake - it's a dairy free chocolate cake (one of the party guests has a casein allergy). If you're a bit of a nerd, you'll recognise it straight away. If you're not a nerd, then you might be interested to know that it's a reproduction of the cake from the video game Portal.

This was a triumph.

I spent some time looking at different recipes. I don't make a lot of chocolate cakes, so I don't have a foolproof recipe. I wanted something that wasn't as heavy as a mudcake, but richer than a cake made only with cocoa. I also had the challenge of cooking at a holiday house, so I wanted a recipe that could be made without a great deal of effort. I found just the thing I was looking for at CitrusAndCandy. I'm going to show my version of it here, because I had to modify it to make it dairy free, and because I didn't quite have all the ingredients when I got to the holiday house! The cake was very moist, but not fudgy. It holds it shape when cut, so it's a good cake for shaping. It doesn't rise a great deal, so I made two and sandwiched them together to get the height I was after.


The cracks didn't matter once the cake was levelled	.

Dairy Free Chocolate Cake

All cup measurements are 'loosely packed'

1 cup dairy free margarine (eg, Nuttelex)

1 cup sugar (I used half brown sugar and half icing sugar!)

1/2 cup cocoa

100g dairy free chocolate

160ml chocolate flavoured soy milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp coffee essence

1 1/3 cups plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

In a heat proof bowl, place the margarine, sugar, cocoa, chocolate, essence and soy milk. Heat over a pot of simmering water until all the ingredients are melted and well mixed (you could also do this in the microwave 30s at a time, stirring in between).

Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a couple of minutes, then add the eggs, whisking well between adding each egg. The mixxture will start to look glossy. Mix the flour and baking powder together. Add the flour 1/3 of a cup at a time, whisking well, after each addition.

Pour into a greased cake tin, lined with baking paper, and bake for 40 minutes at 170degC.

Allow to cool in the tin for at least 15 minutes before turning it out.

To decorate, I used a dairy free chocolate spread as frosting (Sweet William brand "Scooby Doo Chocolate Mud"). I only needed one jar for the entire cake. Then I covered with chocolate flavoured sprinkles, and piped on white frosting.

The cherries are maraschino cherries. I left the stems on.

Plain Dairy Free Frosting

(makes about 2/3 of a cup, suitable for decorating)

2 tsp dairy free margarine

1 tsp soy milk

1 cup pure icing sugar

Whip the margarine and soy milk until smooth and light, and gradually add icing sugar, continuing to mix until the mixture is the stiffness you require. Allow to rest in the fridge until you are ready, then transfer to a piping bag and nozzle.

Success!

The pantry challenge is now over - I've certainly been able to clean out a lot of things from the freezer and pantry. It's also made me more aware of what's in there. Thanks to those who joined in the challenge with me, I'll definitely be doing it again next year.

January Challenge: Day 20 and 21

2012-01-24T21:20:00.000+11:00

Nearing the end of the pantry challenge, and I have to admit I'm looking forward to going back to blogging every other day.

It's been a busy week this week, but I managed to make some zucchini pickles using up a couple of very over grown zucchini - I filled 4 jars like this one. One jar didn't seal properly, so it's in the fridge, and I'll find out in a week or so how they've turned out.

Then I almost forgot that today is the Tuesday Night Vego Challenge!

The noodles I used tonight are imported soba noodles, so they probably don't count, but you can buy lovely organic soba (buckwheat) noodles from Hakubaku that are made here in Australia. Yakisoba means fried noodles.

Yakisoba (serves 2)

cooked soba noodles

finely sliced celery

sliced cabbage

shredded carrot

sliced onion

sliced spring onion

sliced green beans

sliced baby eggplant

teriyaki sauce (organic tamari, mirin, sugar, organic rice vinegar, potato starch)

sesame oil

pinch of chilli flakes

vegetable oil

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok. Add onions and cabbage and fry for 2-3 minutes, then add the rest of the vegetables and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Add noodles and, sesame oil and teriyaki sauce and cook until the noodles are heated though. Serve immediately with some seaweed and sesame seeds sprinkled on top.

January Challenge: Day 19

2012-01-22T21:11:00.000+11:00

I thoroughly raided the pantry for tonight's dinner. It's almost embarrassing how few fresh ingredients I used. Having said that, it's still a healthier alternative to buying an "Enchilada Kit" from the supermarket. Add as much chilli as you can handle. Very nice with a dollop of sour cream (if you have it!)

Vegetarian Enchiladas (serves 2-3)

1 onion, diced
1/2 red capsicum, diced
1 long red chilli, deseeded and diced
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small can creamed corn (or use corn kernels)
salt and pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp dried oregano
1 pinch dried chilli flakes
1/2 tsp hot smoky paprika
2 tsp vegetable oil
6 tortillas
1/2 cup grated cheese

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add onion, capsicum and chilli, and fry for 3-4 minutes until soft. Add spices and cook for another minute until fragrant. Add tomatoes and reduce the heat to a simmer.

Take one third of the beans and mix with 1/4 cup of the hot tomato sauce. Blend to a paste using a stick blender or small food processor. Add this back to the sauce with the remaining beans. The pureed beans help to thicken the sauce. Add creamed corn. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until the mixture has reduced and thickened.

Preheat the grill, and lightly grease a baking dish with vegetable oil. Fill the tortillas with spoonfuls of the bean mixture, roll, and line up in the baking dish. Top with leftover sauce and grated cheese. Grill until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Serve with a crisp salad of mixed lettuce and avocado.

January Challenge: Day 18

2012-01-21T23:10:00.000+11:00

Today I wanted to share a photo from tonight's dinner.

I bought some tiny new chat potatoes today and some ended up roasted and served with steak for dinner. The trick to making roast potato quickly is to mostly cook them first either by boiling or in the microwave. These took only 5 minutes in the microwave, and then about 35 minutes in a hot oven. I drizzled them with a little olive oil, added salt, pepper and chives. Why buy frozen chips when you can make these little gems?

I used up the last of a tin of pepper gravy, so one less thing in my spice cupboard. I'm a bit of a sucker for Gravox - I almost always have brown onion gravy powder in the cupboard for when I make bangers&mash.

January Challenge: Day 17

2012-01-20T22:08:00.000+11:00

Confession Time: I went shopping today and bought a new toy (a couple actually, but one is in the post).

This is my new cast iron wok. Isn't it pretty?

I have a very boring electric stove. I miss having a gas stove and I miss my carbon steel wok. I tried an electric version and it was ok, but the non-stick surface has given way, and it also took up a lot of precious bench space. This wok sits happily on the electric cooktop, and requires only a medium-high heat. Cast iron stores heat very well - I also have a cast iron pot and grill pan.

Tonight I used it to make one of my favourite stir fries - Pork Mince and Eggplant with a spicy sauce and glass noodles.

The Verdict: Nothing beats a well seasoned carbon steeel wok over a high gas flame, but this option will work well enough until the day that I can get a new stove (and some gas, or maybe induction).

Note: I don't bother salting and draining ("disgorging") lebanese eggplants - they are small and sweet. Often I don't bother usually with larger eggplant either - when cooking them with strong flavours such as garlic and soy sauce I don't tend to notice any bitterness they may have. If you generally find eggplant to taste bitter, then go ahead and salt them first.

Pork Mince and Eggplant Stir Fry (serves 3-4)

500g pork mince (I get organic pork mince and it is delicious)

4 lebanese eggplants (or 1 medium eggplant), chopped

3 green shallots, sliced

2 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp minced ginger

1 long red chilli, de-seeded and finely sliced

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp shaoshing cooking wine

1 tbsp water

1 tsp potato starch

1 tbsp sesame seeds

100g dried bean thread vermicelli noodles

Soak the noodles in boiling water, then snip through with scissors to make them easier to stir fry. Drain and set aside.

Mix the sauces and water with the potato starch and set aside.

Heat the wok and add tbsp vegetable oil. When the oil starts to shimmer, add mince and cook until browned. You may need to do this in batches so that the meat browns nicely without stewing. Add garlic, ginger, shallots, chilli, and eggplant.

Cook for another 5-10 minutes until the eggplant is tender, then add the sauce mix and stir until it has thickened and become glossy. Finally, add the noodles and stir through. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds and serve.

January Challenge: Day 16

2012-01-19T22:54:00.000+11:00

A very quick dinner tonight, using up some bacon, broccoli, pasta sauce and random pasta shapes (I now have an empty jar and one less opened packet in the cupboard).

Dessert is some cherry jelly with ice cream. mmmmmm...

January Challenge: Day 15

2012-01-18T19:52:00.001+11:00

Today was a kitchen adventure of a more unpleasant variety. While I was in the middle of giving the baby a bath and getting him ready for bed, I heard a weird popping sound coming from the kitchen. I turned around and saw the light sputter and go out, followed by a gush of water pouring out through the light fitting. This was shortly followed by a frantic knock on the front door. It was the upstairs neighbour, who had just flooded his bathroom...

...again...

So I have remained very calm, got the baby to sleep and am ordering pizza for dinner.

On a more positive note, today I harvested 10 lebanese eggplants weighing a total of 400g, and two zucchini weighing 1.2kg and 1.8kg respectively. I think I'll be making zucchini preserves again this weekend.

January Challenge: Day 14

2012-01-17T21:04:00.000+11:00

Time for another Tuesday Night Vego Challenge!

Yesterday I was lucky enough to visit L and come home with 6 golden nugget pumpkins, 150g of dwarf green beans, and a couple of cucumbers. Add this to my normal vegie delivery and the fridge is bursting with fresh fruit and vegies.

I've been really impressed with the golden nugget pumpkins. They have a beautifully soft, starchy texture, rather than being stringy like some varieties.

The tinned lentils are probably cheating a little, but they were in the cupboard, and now they are not! I'm calling these patties. They're a bit soft to turn into burgers, but they're not made with batter like fritters. The polenta forms a nice crust.

Crispy!

Pumpkin, Lentil and Feta Patties (makes 6)

500g diced pumpkin
100g diced feta cheese
1 tin lentils, drained and rinsed
1 small finely diced red onion
1 tsp ground paprika (I use smoky paprika)
1 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper
1 egg
1/2 cup polenta (fine yellow cornmeal)

Boil or steam the pumpkin until very soft and mash. Allow it to cool. Add lentils, egg, cheese, onion, paprika, cumin, polenta, and season well with salt and pepper, and mix well.

Use a spoon to shape the mixture into large patties and shallow fry in olive oil over a medium heat for 4-5 minutes each side. Cover while cooking to ensure the patties cook through.

Serve with a dollop of plain yoghurt and some home made chutney, or a squeeze of lemon.

January Challenge: Day 13

2012-01-17T09:58:00.000+11:00

Day 13 was a fun day out - so that meant a very quick dinner when we got home. Cous cous salad with avocado, chicken, roast eggplant, roast pumpkin, roast zucchini, cherry tomatoes and a lemon dressing. The cous cous is finished now.

Today was also an experiment in dairy-free cooking. With Australia Day coming up, I've been investigating dairy-free alternatives to whipped cream for a pavlova. While it still needs a bit more practice, using coconut cream with some tapioca and sugar works very well, and is absolutely delicious! Recipe to come soon.

January Challenge: Day 12

2012-01-16T10:42:00.000+11:00

Tonight was roast chicken. While a Sunday roast seems like a terrible cliche, it's not actually something I do often, so it's a treat. I decided tonight that I was going to try a minimalist approach. So many recipes include trussing, marinades, stuffing, seasonings and basting - too much work! Tonight's recipe was very basic, but it was the best chicken I've cooked in a very long time.

Sunday Roast

Plain Roast Chicken

Whole chicken

olive oil

salt flakes

fresh ground pepper

dried sage

1 small head of garlic

Preheat the oven to 180degC. Rinse the chicken inside and out, and pat dry with paper towel (especially the skin). Place the chicken breast-side up on a roasting rack and drizzle with olive oil. Rub in well to coat the skin. Sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper and dried sage. Cut the whole head of garlic in half crossways (so you cut all of the cloves in half) and place all of the garlic in the cavity (skin and all). Pour some water into the base of the roasting pan - enough to cover the base to a depth of approximately 1cm.

My 1.8kg chicken took 2 hours to cook, and I rested it for 15 minutes (I was too hungry to wait longer!). It was meltingly tender with super crisp skin, and we ate it with a medley of vegetable sides: coleslaw, steamed green beans with sesame dressing* and sweet corn on the cob.

Sticky Black Yumminess

* I found a use for the black sesame tahini with agave syrup that has been hiding in my fridge. By adding some soy sauce and rice vinegar, I made a very sticky, scarily black but delicious sesame dressing for beans. It will taste very good tossed through hot soba noodles. I was stumped for a while because although it's a sweet paste, it's very strong.

January Challenge: Day 11

2012-01-14T20:04:00.001+11:00

We had a very bad night's sleep last night with the little guy deciding that he didn't want to sleep between the hours of 1am and 4am. Needless to say, today hasn't seen much action in the kitchen! It was very tempting to order takeaway for dinner, but instead I mustered the energy to make some fried rice - quicker than takeaway and healthier too!

Tonight's version was japanese style with fried garlic, thinly sliced pork and mushrooms, served with some stir fried snake beans. I often have chinese lup chong sausages in the freezer, and a tin of baby prawns in the cupboard, just to make special fried rice.

The trick with home made fried rice is to use a bit more oil than you think, and to add the rice last, so that it fries and gets coated with the flavourings without becoming soggy. It's best to cook the rice using the absorption method (on the stove or in a rice cooker), or use day old rice so that it's nice and dry and you get lovely grains, rather than a wok full of paste.

Today I used up the last of the rice, so now the challenge really begins.

Q: What's your favourite kind of fried rice?

January Challenge: Day 10

2012-01-13T22:45:00.000+11:00

Today we had an afternoon playdate, so I rather than buying something from the bakery, I made some quick blueberry and coconut muffins, using some frozen blueberries. I even used up the last of the macadamia oil - hooray! Now I have some tasty snacks for the weekend.

I started with this recipe at Taste.com.au, but made some adjustments for what I had on hand. Muffins are very forgiving to recipe changes! This was the final recipe, and it easily made 12 muffins. I have no idea why the recipe says it makes 10.

For dinner I used another pantry favourite - japanese curry roux - to make some katsu curry, using some turkey schnitzel I bought on special - yum!

Blueberry and Coconut Muffins

Dry:

2 cups plain flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup raw caster sugar

1 cup frozen blueberries

Wet:

2 eggs

1/2 cup plain greek-style yoghurt

1/4 cup milk

100ml vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 180degC. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with muffin cups.

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients and the blueberries. In a smaller bowl mix the wet ingredients, then add to the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until just combined. Spoon into the muffin pans and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before removing from the tin.

January Challenge: Day 9

2012-01-12T12:25:00.000+11:00

While we're talking about cleaning out cupboards, have you looked in your bathroom or laundry cupboards? In the back of the garage? In the shed? Many homes have nasty chemicals hiding in the forms of old paint, pesticides and herbicides, cleaners, or old motor oil or coolant. They often end up stored in boxes or cupboards because no one knows what to do with them - you can't just turf the in the bin or pour them down the sink (and you musn't)!

If you live in NSW, the State Government runs the CleanOut Program, where household chemicals and hazardous waste are collected at central locations - usually a couple of council areas at once. You can take pretty much anything - old car batteries, chemicals, poisons, even things have lost their labels and you don't know what they are anymore. You just put them all in a box in the boot of your car and they will take them out and dispose of them for you - it's a FREE drive-though service!

Maybe you're in the process of changing your house to clean, environmentally friendly cleaners (and buying the Earth Choice ones in the supermarket is ok, you don't have to stick to bicarb and vinegar if you don't want to). Now you can get rid of the nasties and know it's been done safely.

Last time they were in our area I got rid of old paint left behind when we moved in, old carpet cleaner, oven cleaner and old pool chemicals.

January Challenge: Day 8

2012-01-11T22:42:00.001+11:00

A while back I picked up a fresh duck on special, chopped it up into bits, and the maryland pieces have been sitting in the freezer for a while. I like duck, but it does need careful cooking, or else it can end up tough (and it was). I think I prefer the occasional Peking Duck from a Chinese BBQ.

I cooked the duck legs with a thai red curry sauce, snake beans, capsicum, and bok choy. I also found a packet of microwave jasmine rice - good to get that out of the cupboard!

Tonight I tried to feed the baby some of the dahl from last night mixed with some rice. To his credit, he ate about 3 mouthfuls before he decided it was too spicy and spat it out (he prefers his lentils plain). We settled on some mashed tuna and vegies in cheese sauce (another find in the freezer).

I was also lucky enough to be able to swap a jar of my zucchini and pumpkin chutney for some guava jelly - yum!

January Challenge: Day 7

2012-01-10T22:16:00.000+11:00

So a week into the Pantry Challenge and so far I haven't done too much damage to the pantry or the freezer, but I have found some new inspiration in ingredients and cooking techniques.

I was pointed towards The Witches Kitchen, and it turns out that Linda has run challenges of her own for some time - but hers run all year! Challenges such as the breakfast challenge (grow things that you can make breakfast with that aren't cereal), and the muesli bar challenge (home made muesli bars that kids judge to be better than commercial snacks).

For 2012 it's the Tuesday Night Vego Challenge. I'm in! I cook vegetarian at least once a week anyway. There are rules:

The have to be based on ingredients that are all locally in season together. I think it is fine for spices to travel half way round the world, and grains, legumes and seeds to travel interstate. But asparagus air freighted from California will just be a very expensive, very jet lagged, mummified version of the real thing.
They have to be healthy, as in, low fat, low sugar, whole grain. Cream based carbonara sauces are fine for a special occasion, but if you eat them as a regular mid-week dinner, you better be very active!
They have to use, or at least be able to substitute, equipment that you can probably find in an op shop.
They have to take less than half an hour to make, mostly from scratch.

Indian cuisine is a great place to start looking for vegetarian recipes that look and taste sensational. I made two delicious vegetarian curries and a salad for dinner, served with steamed brown rice. Easily made in about half an hour if you put your rice and lentils on at the same time.

This much colour has to be healthy!

Dahl

"Dahl" simply refers to the split peas or lentils. There are numerous versions of this dish, depending on the legume used. Red lentils cook very fast and don't require any soaking. If you are using split peas or brown lentils, then you need to soak and rinse them beforehand, or use a pressure cooker. You can add other vegies too, like some greens or diced potato.

1 cup red lentils, rinsed

4 cups water

1 tbsp oil (I used virgin coconut oil)

1 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp tumeric

pinch of chilli

1 tomato, diced

1 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp grated ginger

salt and pepper

Place the lentils and water into a large saucepan and bring to the boil, then rapidly simmer for 15-20 minutes until the lentils are tender. In a separate saucepan or frying pan, heat the oil and add the tomato, onion, garlic and ginger and gently sweat over a medium heat until soft. Add the spices and cook for another 2-3 minutes until fragrant. Add the onion mixture to the lentils and season well. Cook until thickened and serve with rice.

Dry Vegetable Curry

Aloo Subzi is a dry (no sauce) potato curry where cubes of potato are cooked in spiced oil or ghee. It's absolutely delicious, very very quick and easy to make and it's much lighter than "regular" curries that can be heavy with cream or coconut milk. Best of all, you can add whatever seasonal vegetables you have - spinach (aloo palak), cauliflower (aloo gobi)... I used golden nugget pumpkin and zucchini (no potato). The pumpkin was creamy and delicious!

500g diced pumpkin, zucchini, steamed until tender-crisp (4-5 min microwave)

1 pinch cumin seeds

1 pinch fennel seeds

1 pinch yellow mustard seeds

1 pinch black mustard seeds

1 small pinch chilli flakes

1/4 tsp ground tumeric

1 small onion, sliced

2 tbsp oil (I used virgin coconut oil)

salt and pepper

Heat the oil and gently fry the spices and onion until fragrant. Add the vegetables and a little cooking water and cook until tender. Season well and serve.

Tomato and Cucumber Salad

1 cup peeled and seeded cucumber, chopped

8-10 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 green spring onion, finely sliced

1/2 tsp minced ginger

pinch of sea salt

1 tbsp mint sauce**

Mix everything together and serve as a cooling side dish to spicy food.

** Yes, you read that right - mint sauce! That terribly english concoction of malt vinegar, sugar and mint makes a fantastic dressing for cucumber! This is what the Pantry Challenge is all about!

January Challenge: Day 6

2012-01-10T15:02:00.000+11:00

Today was a lovely sunny day, too nice for hanging round the house and doing chores, so we jumped in the car and headed to 500m2 for some lunch. We had a lovely lunch of risoni and pumpkin salad with green beans, capsicum, tomato, rocket, bocconcini and basil with a balsamic dressing - delicious!

Then we went out and picked more pumpkin, green beans and cucumbers. It's not often you go to a friend's house and come home with a couple of kilos of free food!

My successful chutney experiment has me thinking of new possibilities, which is good because we're about to be knee-deep in eggplant it seems!

Tonight I used up some more couscous from the cupboard to feed the baby, and had leftovers for dinner.

Most of that is pretty boring, so here's some photos from my little garden:


Patio Roma tomatoes - Please ripen soon!

Baby Chilli plants sprouting from a dried chilli from last summer


First ripe chilli

A very good chilli crop this year

The frangipani started flowering this week