pumpkin and chickpea salad

About time for a recipe don’t you think?

Earlier in the week a made a version of Heidi’s wonderful lemon-scented quinoa salad from 101 cookbooks. I love tahini and lemon juice so any dish including those elements is a winner for me.

Last night I used a similar dressing (no olive oil, extra garlic and lemon) for this delightful vegan concoction. It was a winner.

Pumpkin and chickpea salad with tahini dressing

1/2 medium sized pumpkin
1 can organic chickpeas, drained and well rinsed
1 medium sized red onion, finely sliced
a generous handful (or a whole bunch), coriander, ripped or chopped

Cook the pumpkin by your preferred method. I was lazy so I put the oven on high, cut it into a few large chunks and let it bake with no oil for about 30 minutes - til tender without being too soft. Once cool enough to handle, remove skin and cut into bite sized cubes.

Add the remaining ingredients and toss with the dressing below.

Tahini, lemon and garlic dressing

1-3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons hot water
pinch of sea salt

Combine in a bowl or jug.

What can I say? It was fabulous! Almost enough to make me want to be a full-time vegan.



Undressed


Not so naked!

another one for the owl and the pussycat

“They dined on mince, and slices of quince, Which they ate with a runcible spoon; And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand, They danced by the light of the moon”


There were a number of times during the day that I thought that making quince paste was Not A Good Idea.

The first was even before I had begun. Just looking at the recipe which used terms like – ‘wrap your arm in a dishcloth to prevent burning from the molten like splashes of the bubbling puree’. This was the same puree that needed to be stirred “every few minutes for 3-4 hours”.

So I ditched Stephanie Alexander and I went on the web and found a Women’s Weekly recipe that mentioned nothing about 1st degree burns and estimated the lava would only need to bubble for 1.5 hours and the stirring would only be demanded every 5-10 minutes.

Next was tackling the actual fruit. A have never cooked quinces before and about half way through hacking apart the first one I considered giving up. I valiantly made it through peeling, coring and chopping 4 of the little rocks before I retired due to the rapidly increasing blister on my knife hand.

The WW recipe niftily suggested getting the needed pectin boost from the seeds and cores by putting them in a muslin bag and hanging it in the pot for the first round of cooking. I knew I had a roll of the cloth hiding somewhere and half an hour later I found it and carried on with the process.

Strangely I wasn’t deterred.

After simmering the roughly chopped fruit for about half an hour (siphoning off some of the excess juice and giving it to the sick one in the house to drink) I made the executive decision to puree the fruit by pushing it through a sieve. Stephanie had muttered something about a food processor but had used terms that I had never associated with my machine – something about certain types of blades, that I dared not do it the modern way. First sieveful into the chore, I had another serious NAGI moment. This process was almost as labour intensive as the peeling, coring, dicing ritual. Just when I had almost finished this seemingly endless job, I had another epiphany that this was a really dumb idea when I inadvertently dumped half the sifted out bits of core into my beautiful bowl of puree. I looked at the food processor but even then didn’t trust it. So instead I spent more time plucking out bits of not smooth quince with my (clean) bare hands.

By now I was really having a NAGI moment.

But I carried on.

Having weighed the pulp I consulted the 2 recipes as to how much sugar to add. WW said weight for weight, while Stephanie suggested the sugar could be only 3/4 of the weight of the puree. But when I found that what remained of the 4 quinces weighed in at well over 2 kg I stumbled. There was only 1 kg of sugar in the cupboard. How vital was the sugar to set the paste I wondered? I really can’t tolerate sweet food much any more, so I blundered on pouring in the packet of raw sugar that seemed enormous.

Now the stirring would begin.

I added my own twist, the heat diffuser mat and stoically set the timer for 5 minute intervals. The puree really did have a lot of lumps still in it. Could I just give up at this point and dump the lot? No, while the mixture grew in heat, I fished out a fair few of the now sugar coated lumps and absentmindedly sucked on them. Ten minutes later the sweetness was making me nauseous and a very serious NAGI moment ensued.

I looked optimistically at the clock – if the WW was right on the time estimate the paste would be in the oven drying by bedtime. If Stephanie’s longest estimate was correct – it was going to be a very long night.

After over 2 hours of stirring every 5 minutes, concerned that I was tempting fate cooking a pot of curry on the same stove (that’s all I needed, to stir the paste with the wrong spoon) I was finally convinced that the now ruby coloured concoction was pulling away from the sides of the pot on stirring.

As much as I suspected that Stephanie was right and another hour or two would produce a thicker, richer mass – quite frankly I’d had enough having already muttered “If I ever talk about making quince paste again – stop me!” to the Significant Eater, twice over the last handful of hours. So I went ahead and poured the couple of kilos of sugary fruit pulp into a pyrex loaf dish and some small silicon mini muffins moulds and put them in a very low oven til bedtime. Over night I turned the heat off but left the fan running and by morning the paste had dried (despite my fears that the lower sugar content would prevent them from setting).

So the proof is in the pudding, or the paste in this case. They are sweet and fruity set to a dry-ish jelly. Of course they would be perfect with sheep’s milk cheese – but for now I might just have it as an occasional sweet hit on crackers.

green mango salad

The Significant Eater arrived back from Sydney with a precious cargo. Out of his bag came a load of mangoes from a backyard tree. The glut was equally numbered between ripe and green fruit. Perfect. Sweet cheeks for breakfast and finally some green mango for a Thai salad.

With the usual mix and match between recipes – this is what emerged.

Thai green mango salad with char grilled calamai

2 green mangoes, julienned
a handful of French (green) beans, blanched and cut in half
2 carrots, grated
(fine slices of red onion or spring onion if desired)

1-2 fresh calamari – cleaned and grilled (tentacles too if you like them)

1 hot red chili, finely sliced
a bunch of coriander, green tops, chopped
(mint or Vietnamese mint would be nice too)

toasted cashew nuts, chopped or crushed

Dressing

30 mls fish sauce
15 mls lime juice
1-2 tsp sugar, preferably palm sugar

Slice, dice, grill and toast til your heart is content. Mix the dressing making sure the sugar has dissolved, assemble then lastly toss through the dressing and sprinkle on the nuts.

Yum!

Massaman curry paste

I just can't help ad libbing.

A few of those chiles remained in the bowl and I was determined to use them up, but the criterion was to use only ingredients that I had at hand. I’m trying to live a little more simply. There are fresh organic vegetables in the fridge every week, a little supplementing of fresh fish and supermarket essentials – enough to get us through, not just to the next shopping day but a month til the larder is truly exhausted.

I wanted to make a curry paste but almost all called for fresh coriander. With a little searching a Thai Massaman stood out as an exception. I’ve had a vegetable version at the local Thai, milder than it’s red companion but with a broad palate.

When I settled on a recipe I figured there would be only the odd substitution. Once completed, it was more like half of it.

It is fun making a curry paste from scratch. Sure you can throw it in a food processor, but a mortar and pestle gives it a more authentic texture. What’s more it’s a good toner for the arm muscles as well. The version I made was quite wet, so avert your eyes if you wish to avoid the odd bit of chili juice that may fly about.









Massaman Curry Paste

(Refer to the original for a more accurate idea about quantities. I made enough paste to be cooked with 1 can of coconut milk, 2-4 people depending on your appetite.

4 fresh red chillies (these were particularly fiery so I removed the seeds to temper the bite)
1 small brown onion
2-3 large cloves of garlic
1 inch chunk of fresh ginger
1 kaffir lime leaf and a little lime peel
2 cloves
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 heaped teaspoon cumin seeds
3 white peppercorns
1 tsp shrimp paste* (roasted in foil in a hot dry pan for 5 minutes)
a dash of fish sauce*

*these 2 ingredients can be omitted without compromising the flavour too much for a true vegetarian version.
Toast the cumin, coriander, cloves and peppercorns in a hot dry pan. Pound in your mortar and pestle then put aside

Roughly chop the chili, onion, garlic, lime leaf and skin. Pound together in mortar and pestle. When smooth-ish, add the ground dry ingredients. Mix together. Add the shrimp paste and then a dash of fish sauce to taste.

This resulted in about 4 tablespoons of chunky paste.



Cook in the more solid cream that sits on the top when you open the tin of coconut milk. After cooking for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, add the rest of the milk. Now throw in your diced vegetables. In this case it was: potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot, corn and zucchini.

A Massaman usually has potato and roasted peanuts. The packet of redish brown little nuggets at the back of the pantry I had assumed were peanuts turned out of be dried beans – not a suitable substitute in this circumstance. Instead to add a nutty flavour I fried some thin slices of tempeh. I served the curry with basmati rice and the crispy tempeh.

It was a delicious curry, with warmth rather than eye watering heat and many layers of flavour.

So can you meet the simplicity cooking challenge?

Detox Diaries - day 7

I’ve hit the 1 week mark!

Awake all zippy just before the alarm. My head catalogues all the things I have to do before I leave the house. It’ll be a tough call but I can jump out of bed and get it done in time. Optimism is a great detox side effect.

In the shower 7.30, the phone rings. A call at this time of the day you just know it is never going to be good news. It’s not. My neighbour asks me hesitantly if I have seen my car today.? Oh dear, what? How bad? Standing in the rain cataloguing the wilful damage to your 2 year old car takes a bit more than a pure diet and optimism to endure.

The morning goes to custard, but fortunately I don’t. I am a bit wobbly by the time I get to head into work. A combo of shock and only having a piece or two of fruit to eat on the way. Breakfast, for me, is NEVER skimpy or on the run. I admit to feeling a bit miserable, but it’s not comfort food I am after, it is the ritual of eating that I am craving.

I’ve managed to at least heat and grab the soup made the night before, in lieu of some time consuming salad for lunch that I couldn’t prepare. The red lentil soup is strangely sweet without salt. Salt really, really is essential in soup! I had grabbed the last dregs of the pesto to throw in and the rush of raw garlic saves the day.

Dinner, and yes it’s 7pm after a long day at work and I have crashed again, is soup once more. Boring but sustaining. Craving more intense flavour I finish with some babaganoush and raw vegetables.

The day's other snacks – raw nuts and an afternoon fruit salad from David Jones. Lots of water.

The detox is going ok. I’m not hungry but rather wanting my food to comfort me, especially on a day like today. It’s becoming a great exercise in awareness.

Tomorrow it is reintegration time. The plan is a diverse vegan diet, still without stimulants, sugars and processed grains but being less pedantic about oil and salt (in moderation at least).

Detox Diaries - day 6

Dreams returned to their usual meld of non-food related items. Wake up feeling AOK.

Juice for a change to help face the new day.

Pear Zinger Juice
1 pear
1 apple
1 lemon, skin removed
ginger root, 1/2-1 inch, depending on your zing tolerance!


Parts 1 and 2 of breakfast were taken around a dentist appointment. I have to say that in the 20 odd years since I stopped eating meat I’ve never had a new cavity.

The reward for the never entirely relaxing visit to the dentist was a punnet of blueberries. I know they are “good” for you but most I have tasted have been ho-hum. However spurred on by the euphoria of the big organic grocery store (which lacked any other fruit that excited me) I parted with the big bucks for a cupful of organic berries. I am now a convert. They are sensational! Sometimes you really do pay for what you get.



Having started the working day late I didn’t have a lot of time to face the lunchbox challenge. I always buy my lunch, but I knew without the one saving grace in the city being open I’d have to pack my own today. I’d bought some good quality babaganoush, fresh with no additives and scooped some into a small container and hastily chopped up some veggie sticks. In a ziploc bag I threw in some ice to keep it from going off. Some almonds and a big bottle of filtered water completed the preparations. Oh yes, am still downing 2-3 litres a day of that precious fluid in various forms!



Lunch tasted great, but I still like the ritual of eating outside of the office. There is always the threat of the phone ringing or someone coming in, to upset the digestion. I’ve got to say I’m looking forward to going out to eat other people’s food next week.

The other downside is that although the detox is less extreme since the weekend’s fruit fast, I hadn’t really tested myself. Energy was better than expected and I hadn’t suffered any big crashes, but in reality I had done very little for 3 days. But today all that changed. By 5pm, despite nibbling on a few almonds, my brain shut down. Blood sugar had plummeted and I couldn’t add up numbers. Fortunately I’m not an accountant, but I feel like an idiot stumbling over simple sums in front of clients. By the time I got home I was literally running in circles, knowing I needed to eat (some blueberries helped, but not enough) but not being able to decide on what. The plan was to make veggie stock for some lentil soup. Dumb plan when it is 6pm, you’re hypoglycaemic and dinner will take 2 hours to cook! I chased my tail for a while and after reading lots of recipes took ideas from 3 different ones to come up with my own.

Bean salad with parsley pesto

The pesto bit
Combine: parsley, pistachios, 1-3 cloves of garlic, a little grated lemon zest and some lemon juice in a food processor and blitz til smooth. Then add 1-2 avocado and blend briefly. (Non-detoxers could add a slurp or 2 of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt.)

The bean salad bit
White beans (cooked from dried would have been better but a can of well rinsed organic beans can be a lifesaver sometimes) and diced salad vegetables..

Mix the pesto through the salad and you have a well balanced, 10 minute meal!

The pesto in particular was fabulous – thanks to Flip Shelton’s idea to use pistachios. I’m still waiting for her recipe to go up on the RRR’s Breakfasters site, but I know it also had mint and basil. The avocado came from a Golden Door recipe book, it extended it and gave a little creaminess. It would be great on steamed greens or a chunk on top of a vegetable soup, as it is half way between a pesto and gramalata.

Planning is the key to a successful detox I reckon. To avoid tonight's problems, instead of resting I spent the night making vegetable stock (from all those dag ends of celery etc that I have been gathering) and eventually a no-fry, red lentil and vegetable soup - so there is something for dinner when I get home late from work tomorrow.

Tomorrow – and I thought today was tough! How life’s little crises can threaten a detox, will she make it or won’t she?

Detox Diaries - day 5

More dreams, not eating but bringing 1 metre long vanilla pods and other spices back into the country and deciding to declare it as my bag is stuffed with food from some kind of overseas buy up. Hmm, we’ll leave that to the Jungian Psychologists.

Still feel empty versus hungry but kind of excited that new foods can be bought into my diet. I am playing it by ear for now – a raw food element, largely unprocessed, organic and vegan

Begin the day with – you guessed it - lemon juice in warm water. Today I add a small fruit salad. Simple – a kiwi, an apple and a tamarillo mixed with the juice of a mandarin. The tamarillo (aka “tree tomato”) while relatively exotic in Melbourne was a staple in my New Zealand childhood. It sat on top of the other fruit, greeting me cheerily. Though a very modest serve, it was still at least double the meal sizes from the past few days. I actually felt full before I finished it, but an hour later it’s effects had diminished.



Lunch:
Organic Salad Supreme in Cos leaves

Avocado, diced
Celery, diced
Spring onion, thinly sliced
Parsley, chopped
Carrot, grated
Alfalfa sprouts
Raw pistachio nuts, shelled
Lemon juice

Combine the above ingredients, dressing to taste with fresh lemon juice.

Place about 1 tablespoon of salad in the centre of a Cos lettuce leaves. This is a bit like an open sandwich but the sides can be closed or rolled to make a wrap if preferred.

This salad was inspired by a trip to an organic grocery store. I don’t find sprouts that interesting as a food, but they are usually an essential on all detox lists. After a few days of only fruit this combo was most delicious. The lemon brings the flavours together, the avocado gives it some softness and the pistachios lend both sweetness as well as providing a different texture to the crisp vegetables.



Sprout tip: The key to goodness is freshness. In fact a few days past their peak, I’ve been told, their good phytochemicals turn into dubious ones – so if not spouting your own make sure to get the ones with a long ‘use by’.


Dinner:
Steamed vegetables with a simple tahini/miso sauce

Tahini and miso sauce
Per person: combine the following in a bowl or jug

1 tablespoon of miso paste
1 tablespoon of tahini (preferably unhulled for extra goodness)
I small clove of garlic, crushed (optional)
A small knob of ginger, grated or finely chopped (optional)
1-3 tablespoons of hot water

Start adding a small amount of water to melt the miso paste and gradually combine the mixture with more water til you reach your desired consistency.

This is a delightful, simple dressing for steamed vegetables.

Detox Diaries - day 4

Kiwi



Still empty and dreaming. Last night they were more humourous, a series of scenarios and in each I unthinkingly ate some delicious morsel of food and a short while later thought “Oh bugger, I was meant to eat only fruit today!” Perhaps I’m just reminding myself how unconscious I am of what and how I eat most of the time.

Energy on low-ish power, doing things seems to take me longer. Breakfast is one kiwi fruit sliced into 5ths, on a nice china plate, eaten with a fork. It was the best kiwi fruit I have ever eaten! The cool slivers initially smooth on the tongue, with a honeyed sweetness followed by a gritty tang.




As much as I enjoyed every bite, I am not craving food. Yesterday I read Mel’s blog about the hot jam donuts at Vic Market. I have walked past that van for the past 20 years while shopping and only ever vaguely been tempted but never enough to commit to the experience (ah it’s that inner food nazi’s fault again!). But on reading her post I wanted one. Now. Maybe two. I didn’t know how I used to be able to walk past without stopping.

Today, it doesn’t register.

I flow through the rest of the day, go to a movie for distraction (“Friends With Money” – fortunately not highly food focused) and would sum up my mood as ‘bored’. Not eating, not cooking, not dining – can be very, very boring. But the upside is there’s very little washing up to do!

Today’s tips to all potential detoxers - some things to avoid in the first few days of the challenge are:

1. Stick to non-food blog browsing. In fact cleanse your mind and don’t touch the computer or tv for a couple of days.
2. Resist reading the brand new “Good Food Guide” and planning your eating out forays.
3. Even if you have just bought the delicious Nigel Slater cookbook, don’t lay a finger on it.
4. Now is not the best time to catch up on your backlog of “Eat Feed” and KCRW’s “Good Food” podcasts.

Tomorrow – the vegetables return!

The Detox Diaries - day 3

Apples



Awake to a catfight at 7.30am but at least I had 8 unbroken hours of sleep. I was dreaming that I was running massive distances up and down the hills in my hometown. I wasn’t puffed or in pain. In fact I had masses of energy. Strange, as I never run.

Head clear-ish. Mood, OK. But start thinking about food. Or rather the denial of food. Restricting your diet can shake the core of who you are. I want the ritual of a cup of coffee in bed while I write my journal, or over a long perusal of the Saturday paper. I think of the big vegetarian breakfast at my favourite café.

Instead I have my lemon juice in warm water and start blogging.

Time passes very slowly when your tummy keeps shouting “feed me”. Technically I could gorge myself on apples – the fruit du jour, but I know the more I eat, the hungrier I will ultimately feel. By 1pm I have only got through 2 Pink Ladies, cored and cut into 8ths. Lots of water.

Mineral water becomes an exciting deviation, or the way the fruit is sliced. But by mid afternoon the preoccupation with hunger recedes and by bedtime there is more a sense of emptiness, a rather neutral kind of sensation. Instead of feeling flat and irritated I am quite peaceful and, if not exactly jumping out of my skin, mildly energised

When did you last feel empty? We all scan these blogs because we are worshippers of food. Satiety is usually the goal, but without the opposite, sometimes we can’t fully appreciate it. When your palate is bombarded with so many different flavours and textures, most of the time we forget to taste. I can tell you a crisp apple has crunch, sweetness and an enticing aroma – but perhaps you have to be focused, calm and empty to appreciate it. Go on, give it a try!

The Detox Diaries - days 1-2

It’s Spring Clean time.

Some years it’s as simple as giving up coffee for a while, arguing that my base diet is better than most. You can still get that small buzz of virtue saying “no” to caffeine or alcohol, without doing the really tough work. Once, in London, it was a full on fast for 5 days of just water and herb tea.

Last year was a modified, stricter version of the original Leslie Kenton 10 Day clean up - a 2 day fruit fast and another week of very strict eating, mainly raw fruit and veg with a few nuts, seeds, real grains and beans thrown in at the end. Squeaky clean! But although I had no caffeine cursing through my system to withdraw from, I felt achy, cold and lethargic for the duration

So this year’s plan is a flexible week to 10 days of good clean food, with more lead in time and only a couple of totally raw food days.

Day 1
Yesterday I farewelled coffee, chocolate and alcohol. At this point it’s more psyching myself into the whole thing. The pre-marathon pep talk. As I know that these little joys will only be gone for a week or two, it’s no big stress.

Start the day with lemon juice in warm water, move onto a peppermint tea. Have some porridge for breakfast, some salad and carbs for lunch and steamed fish and vegetables for dinner. Some rice too, which was almost brown. A packet of dirty looking basmati labelled “brown basmati” that looked pretty white and huskless on cooking.

I notice people drinking coffee at the market and feel a little wistful. I shop up large at my favourite organic stall – finding the best fruit and veg to get the whole shebang under way.

Day 2
Awake grumpy and blame it on the Significant Eater breaking my sleep for the second night in a row. He is heading away for the weekend and jokes (?) about seeing me at the end of next week when I am in a better mood.

I discover that when people are detoxing their sense of humour can also go down the toilet.

Have a headache in 2 different parts of my head that I deny has anything to do with a 2nd day without coffee. My neck must be out.

Start the day with the lemon juice, some ginger and spice ‘tea’ and eat some soaked oats and an apple. At lunch I head off to the wonderful organic café in Degraves Street only to discover it is closed for the next couple of weeks! Mild panic ensues about what I will do next week when I am in the tougher stage of the detox. Go to some other healthy-ish food shop that has ok salads, avoiding all the noodle and couscous ones. Food alright, but would prefer organic with more leafy greens.

Today is officially the first day of summer and the barometer has hit an amazing 25c. The air is thick with warmth and everyone is happy. On the way home my mind wanders to the perfectness of sipping a cool drink at an outdoor bar on such an evening.

Another twist to detox diets is they suggest you have your evening meal at a ridiculously early hour. Manage to make and consume a salad by 6.45pm and settle in for a night on the couch with the ABC. Tummy rumbles a couple of hours later with strong sweet cravings. Eat 4 sultanas then discover a couple of passionfruit. Am sated at last.

Detox recipe from Day 2

An impromptu ‘whatever is in the fridge’ Salad
Cauliflower – florets blanched in boiling water for 1 minute then refreshed in ice water
Celery – stalks and leaves, diced
Radish – sliced
Carrot – cut into sticks
Spring onion – thinly sliced on the diagonal

Dressing
2 cloves of garlic – blanched (raw ok)
half an avocado - mashed
1 tablespoon tahini
lemon juice – about half a lemon, to taste

Combine the ingredients in a bowl til smooth. If you want to make a thinner dressing add a little hot water til you get the desired consistency.

Tip: Eat the salad in a small bowl. Chew well. Now you can have a second bowlful!



The next 2 days will be tough – just one type of fruit a day for the weekend. Now I have had my gentle intro to the detox – the real cleanse begins!

Stir fry – a Mee Goreng variation

Every now and then when I eat Malaysian I will order a Mee Goreng, mostly out of nostalgia for my student days when this made a tasty but cheap treat. When it arrived it was always 1 part positive taste memory and another part disappointment at how strongly it tastes of ketchup.

The other night I wanted to capture some of the positive elements of a vegetarian (but with no added egg) mee goreng – keeping the noodles, potatoes and sweet chilli, but dropping the taste of tomato sauce.

This is what I came up with. We both pronounced it not just edible but down right yummy. It was filling, but next time I’d make more because it tasted so good we wanted seconds, just for the hell of it.

Malaysian stir fry – a relative of Mee Goreng

Light oil eg: peanut or raw sesame
Tofu, cubed
Potato, diced into small sized chunks
Chilli, a little fresh finely chopped
Garlic, as much as you can tolerate, crushed
Carrots, thinly sliced on the diagonal or julienned
Broccoli shoots and any other greens that take your fancy, cut into bite size pieces
Spring onions
A dash of roasted sesame oil
Fresh egg noodles, or dried if you can’t get them fresh

Sweet chilli sauce
Tamari or soy sauce

Prepare the noodles according to the manufacturers instructions, so they are ready to use once the vegetables are done.

In a clean wok shallow fry the tofu (patted dry so it doesn’t splatter) until it is golden brown on all sides. Set aside and drain on kitchen paper. Now put the potato into the wok. You can either set the heat on low and cover with a lid to steam a little (like how you would cook spuds in a tortilla Espanol) or keep tossing them on a high heat. They take about 10-15 minutes to cook through. Reserve on kitchen paper. Add oil to the wok if needed and start cooking the carrot, add the next densest vegetables then garlic and chilli. Splash in a little dark sesame oil. Lastly add any leafy greens if you are using them (eg: bok choy) and spring onions. When these are cooked throw back in the tofu and potatoes. Add the well drained egg noodles. Stir through then add seasoning – a generous amount of your favourite sweet chilli sauce and a few splashes of tamari, to taste.

By no means would I claim this is an authentic dish, just one of those fortunate kitchen experiments. It is a great vegetarian meal which could be easily made vegan by substituting udon for egg noodled. Though this dish wouldn't suit the carb nazis!

Update: I've been playing with variations of this - brown onion for spring onion, different vegetables, smoked tofu, a handful of fresh corriander - yum!

wonton soup

Before my demise on the weekend, when a virus laid me horizontal for 3 days, I had been playing in the kitchen.

As I mused last Thursday I did end up making Ange’s wontons with flathead rather than prawns. The soup and the dumplings made a fabulous, warming and nutritious meal.

Wontonly Fishy Soup
the soup part
4 flathead fillets
a handful of fresh shitake mushrooms
1-2 spring onions
a knob of ginger
a little coriander root
1 small chilli
fish sauce, to taste

the wonton/dumpling part
very similar ingredients but use the flathead meat from above and substitute it for prawns with this recipe

First skin and bone the fillets. As the flesh will be mulched up in the food processor to make the wantons, it doesn’t matter how roughly you do it. I give the tips of the tails and skin to the cat – I have no choice really, she’s very persistent when it comes to fish!

Take the bones and any scraps and cover amply with cold water. Bring to the boil then simmer for about 15 minutes. I was privy to a conversation with one of Melbourne’s leading seafood chef’s a year or two ago who said to not to be afraid, you can simmer for much longer when making fish stock. So really, it’s up to you how long you cook them for. Strain to remove the bones and skim of the flotsam.

Now you have a very basic stock.

With your fish meat follow the wonton recipe. I used round gyoza wrappers, because that is one less additive without the yellow colouring! With a generous teaspoon of mixture in each wrapper I twisted the top to make money bag shapes and set aside wrapped in a damp tea towel.

The soup part is cunningly simple. Finely slice the herbs and vegetables and bring to a simmer in the broth. Add some fish sauce. A little goes a long way so put in a teaspoon or 2, then taste. It should be salty but not over powering. The combination of the fish sauce and the shitake mushrooms makes a delicious broth. If using dried shitakes add the soaking water to the pot.

When the soup comes to a boil, add the wontons and simmer for 5-7 minutes.

The little money bags full of spicy seafood plumped up while cooking and looked fantastic. With the wontons, it turned a delicate vegetable studded broth, into a hearty meal.

I have made a similar combination and instead of putting inside wrappers, just formed into balls. The fish ball soup version suits the carb nazis and is gluten-free. Rice noodles also work well with the balls.

cooking whole fish

As I may have mentioned before, I am a convert to cooking whole fish. It is incredibly easy, always comes out succulent and is a breeze to clean up when you line the pan or wrap it in al foil. Another great reason is whole fish is a cheap way of eating seafood and any fishmonger worth his or her salt will clean, scale and gut it for you for no extra cost. If they ask – always keep the head on! Ignore the pesky eyes staring blindly at you from the table, remember fish eyes are a delicacy in some countries.

I have a couple of fallback ways to cook a whole beast.

Whole fish with tomato and basil
This was the first recipe I adapted, inspired by Cheryl Beere’s “The Atomic Café Cookbook”. The original recipe ’Barbecued whole stuffed baby salmon’ suggested stuffing the cavity of a baby salmon with fresh basil, marjoram, oregano, black olives, capers, garlic, lemon juice and slices of onion and tomatoes. Season. Wrap in aluminium foil and bbq 15 minutes per side.

I simplified this to – take a baby trout (while I still ate farmed fish), slice some lemon, tear up some basil leaves, chop up a bit of garlic and throw this in the cavity. Season. Wrap in al foil and bake in a moderate oven for 30 minutes or more depending on the size. Test with a sharp knife to see if cooked.

Easy as!

Whole fish with lemon, garlic and thyme
Score some slices in the thicker parts of the flesh and insert slices of lemon and sliver of garlic. Do this about 4 or 5 times a side. In the cavity add more lemon, fresh thyme or rosemary and some chunks of garlic. Season. This can be cooked uncovered at 180-200c.

Get the idea? The next step is to put your favourite flavours together and make it your way.

…and here’s one we made earlier (before my canon camera had that malfunction they don’t admit to)



From memory this is mackerel. It has a great omega 3 profile, is ridiculously cheap, tastes great but does have some pesky fine bones. We got it originally for the cats, but why should they have all the fun? The fish is seasoned with sea salt and some ground mixed peppercorns.

Last week’s fish was bonito. It never seems to have scales and has very dense, meaty flesh. It's got the health advanatges of tuna, without the big fish mercury. I inserted the slices of lemon and garlic and used rosemary to stuff it because that was the only suitable fresh herb still growing in the backyard following the recent renovations. The 750g bonito cost the princely (princessly) sum of $6 from Prossers at Vic Market. There was easily enough to feed 3 people. That’s right – a delicious fish meal for $2 a head! Served up with masses of colcannon this was a hearty dish to welcome the first day of winter.

Go on, be brave. Whole fish is actually easier to cook than fiddley fillets that dry out easily. Invest in a big platter, so you can serve it whole at the table (stainless steel ones from catering supply stores are useful) and it will never fail to impress. For those afraid of bones try something with a thick spine, like snapper, which is easy to peel away once you have served the top layer.

Enjoy!

A different kind of comfort food

Nigella Lawson did a show once on “Temple Food”. This is what you eat when you need to get back in touch with your body after too many nights of rich dining or when you need to bounce back from a hangover.

I’d consider the simplest TF to be a bowl of steamed vegetables, naked and unadorned by butter or salt. Homestyle, something a restaurant chef would turn pale at the thought of serving to a punter.

After eating out all last weekend I wanted something a little healthier for my innards. This is comfort food – food nazi style. Beyond vegetables I needed something else with a hefty dose of fibre. I had a weird craving for lentils, something I hadn't cooked for years. Just as well dried legumes are virtually indestructable, as I had a very old packet somewhere at the back of the pantry.

Lentils and rice and lots of spice

Heat a little vegetable oil in a saucepan that has a well fitting lid.

Add a chopped onion and stir over medium heat. Add some spices. For this I used:
Lots of finely chopped fresh ginger
A large clove of garlic
A generous couple of teaspoons of garam masala
A small sprinkle of mustard seeds
A little bit of dried, crushed chilli

Stir in the hot oil until the onions are translucent and you hear some popping noises from the mustard seeds.

Throw in some brown rice and stir, then an equal quantity of raw brown lentils (if you have thought ahead it’s better to soak both first for a few hours). If you want to make a quicker dish, use basmati rice and red lentil. When the oil and spices have coated the grains add a plentiful amount of hot vegetable stock. As this will cook by absorption you need at least twice as much volume of stock to the rice and lentils. Don’t worry too much about getting the amount just right, as you can top up the stock if need be while it’s cooking.

Once it has come to a simmer, turn down the heat and put the lid on. Stir every once and a while. For white rice cook for about 20 minutes then make sure the lid is firmly on and leave to sit a further 15 minutes. For brown, check to see if the rice and lentils are almost fully cooked (about 30-40 minutes) and also leave to sit for quarter of an hour.

This dish goes well with steamed vegetables, curries and most things vaguely Indian. It is also a tasty dish to eat on it’s own or with some asian pickles.

Pie eyed

One winter I was lamenting (quietly to myself, as you do) about the lack of fish pie options now I am milk free. I have made white sauce before with soy, but it comes out too sweet and it’s a poor alternative. One day in Gourmet Traveller I came across a non-saucy pie, in a yeasted crust, made from fish and leeks. With a bit of tweaking it became my favourite dish for a cold night.

The original recipe, other than being in pastry rather than topped with mash, included raisins. Throw in a handful if you like the sweet-savoury combo, personally I don’t. In some renditions of the pie I have added in more vegetables, forgotten the parsley, substituted the lemon peel with fine slivers of kaffir lime leaves. Use your imagination. The original quantities adequately fill my largest, oval pie dish but for 2 it’s easy to halve or quarter the ingredients and serve in ramekins (or your favourite single serve vessel).

Comfort food fish pie

Basic quantities – for 4 hungry people as a stand alone dish, 6 with a salad or 8 as part of a multi-course meal (or can feed an unlimited amount of supermodels).

Olive oil for sautéing
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
600g leeks, washed trimmed and sliced
75g green olives, pitted and roughly chopped
45 g of small capers (the ones in salt where you soak for an hour, then drain)
1 tablespoon lemon peel, finely chopped or grated
1/3 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
600g blue eye (or similar) fillets, in approx. 8mm slices (or whatever takes your fancy)

Mashed potato (more on mash)

Method
Get the potatoes on for the mash.

Cook fish in olive oil. Do this in batches so you don’t crowd the pan. Just 1 minute a side (to seal rather than cook through). Put aside. Now do the same with the leeks. Cook til soft and add in the lemon peel, caper, olives and parsley. Give it a quick toss then set aside.

Make the mash.

Combine the fish and leek mixture in the pie dish. Top with generous amounts of mash.

Bake in a hot oven. About 200c for about 20-30 minutes, til the mash is golden on top.


In this version I used flathead. The chunks tend to be not as thick as blue eye but I love the taste (and an excuse to get the fillets and replenish the freezer with some stock). I had no parsley and wanted more vegetables so added in some zucchini. The new oven didn’t seem that hot, so it took about 45 minutes. In a second batch, I cooked at about 205 for 20 minutes and placed under a hot grill for about 7.

This recipe is gluten-free, dairy free (depending on how you make the mash) and very tasty. It won't, however, please the carb-phobes.

Moroccan dreaming

With less than a week til I move back into my house, my thoughts are elsewhere (counting pennies to pay for it, for a start!). I have been cooking, but not snapping pics.

I wanted to make a Moroccan cauliflower dish, like I have eaten at the Moroccan Soup Bar but couldn’t find a suitable recipe and ended up making a basic vegetable tagine instead.

Actually it was a “saucepan” not a tagine, as it was made on the stove top without the aid of the namesake cooking vessel.

The Moroccan inspired saucepan
Flavours:
Fresh ginger, finely chopped
Garlic, finely chopped
Coriander seeds, ground
Cumin seeds, ground
Chilli, dried or powdered (to add a little spice but not hot like a curry)
Cinnamon – 1 quill or piece of bark*

Vegetables:
Sweet potato or pumpkin, cubed
Onion, sliced
Zucchini, chopped
..ad lib with whatever you have in the fridge

Protein:
1-2 cans of chickpeas, rinsed well
(some people have been known to add meat)

Juice:
Good quality vegetable stock (chicken if going for the carnivorous version)
1-2 cans of chopped tomatoes

Fry the spices, except cinnamon, in some vegetable oil then add the densest vegetables and onion. Stir. Add tomatoes, chickpeas, cinnamon and stock. After a while add any remaining vegetables. Simmer some more. Add more stock if required to give it a ‘stew with lots of juice’ consistency. Check seasoning, add salt if necessary.

Prepare couscous as desired. If you were a purest it would have been steaming over the stew all the while, but I just did the quick method (1 cup of couscous steeped in 1 cup of boiling water, covered with a tea towel for about 10 minutes) – stir through a bit of butter and fresh chopped mint, if you have it, before serving.

* I love the strong taste of cinnamon bark, it really adds another dimension to the flavour which powdered cinnamon doesn’t quite hit.

I used the leftovers for mini pies the next day. This was a quick no-brainer, I’m hungry after working late meal thanks to the joys of frozen pastry. Drain off excess juice and mash or finely chop. Fashion into pies and bake in a moderate-hot oven for 15-20 minutes. Tastes great with tomato chutney and a salad.

Colcannon

Despite meteorological promises of a brief return to temperatures in the low 20’s over the next few days, Melbourne has been decidedly chilly for a while. For me this means successive pots of soup on the stove and a return to romancing the spud.

Potatoes are a comfort food. One I tend to limit for some ridiculous reason. But it was a podcast on Irish food that got me going all over again. Just the week before I had been cooked cabbage, sautéed in olive oil til soft and more-ish. Hearing of the delights of this traditional dish, a combination of mashed potato and cabbage – I had to make it.

Not being a fan of milk, but perversely of butter, I took the notion and ran with it recipe-less in my usual manner. Here’s my ‘blueprint’ – let’s not go so far to call it an actual recipe.

Mashed potatoes and cabbage by any other name
Put some potatoes on to simmer in some salted water. I used organic coliban, which seemed perfect for the job.

In a heavy based fry pan sauté some onion, when soft add a little garlic and an anchovy or two. Chop as much cabbage as you can eat and add it to the pan. You will need to stir frequently until it too has softened.

About this time the spuds should be about done. Drain well, add lashing of butter, salt and pepper. Mash. Now combine the exquisitely cooked cabbage and onion with the mash.

Heaven.

dip-a-liscious

In the past 6 months I have had a growing fascination with roasted cauliflower. I love the depth of flavour roasting brings out of it. I have used it as a base for fish, in gyoza and vegan ravioli previously, but there is always more that you can do with this gorgeous veggie.

The Moroccan Soup Bar, a Melbourne vegetarian haven, features a couple of dishes that taste suspiciously of roasted cauliflower and tahini. This is my version of one of their dips.

Roasting the Cauli

Clean a head of cauliflower (or what ever quantity you have handy) and break into smallish florettes. Mix in a bowl with a little olive oil (about a tablespoon or two). Spread in a roasting dish and bake.




I used a fan forced oven at 180c for about 25 minutes. In my old gas oven I would have set higher and cooked for longer.

Remove from oven when there is a fair splattering of golden brown.



Allow to cool.

Cauliflower and tahini dip

Take a little or a lot of your roasted cauliflower and place in a food processor.

Add some crushed garlic, lemon juice and tahini, then blend – use similar proportions as you would to make hommos (yes this is basically the same, substituting the cauli for chickpeas!). If unsure, start with 1 clove of garlic, the juice of half a lemon and a tablespoon of tahini. Keep tasting and adjust accordingly.

Season with sea salt.

Now add a little warm water and blend again. Keep adding water til you get a dip like consistency.

Goes well with crudités, pita chips or plain rice crackers.

Variation:
Toast and grind some cumin seeds.

Warning:
This dip is addictive!

Gluten-free spinach and fetta pie

I don’t often buy spinach. A macrobiotic friend had mutter dark bodings about oxalic acid once and after that I had dropped it off the bottom of the shopping list. But when I saw it at the market this week, something told me I just had to have it.

Spinach pie is a classic – but this one isn’t. For a start I rarely eat cheese, but every now and then will see how my body copes with a little sheep’s milk. This was one of those days, but I didn’t want to push the boundaries of my wayward gut by risking flour and dairy in the same meal.

This is what I came up with.

Gluten-free spinach and fetta pie

For the crust
Peel and grate potato, enough to cover whatever size pan, pie dish or casserole you are using. Squeeze out as much water as possible and push down into the base of your well oiled pan. Sprinkle a little olive oil on top. Bake uncovered at about 205c for about 25 minutes. Check that the edges don’t burn.

While cooking the crust prepare the ingredient.
Slice a large leek or a couple of medium sized one. Sauté in butter (butter really adds a creamy dimension to the dish). Do it slowly, be patient, it will take a while but you will have lovely, buttery leeks.
Pick over, de-stalk and thoroughly wash a bunch of spinach (more if you are making a bigger pie). Shake off the water and throw in a large pot, over a medium heat. You don’t need to add anything to the pot as there is always enough moisture clinging to the leaves to steam it. Toss with your tongs frequently, to get even cooking. This won’t take long, so don’t leave it unattended. When cooked, drain the spinach thoroughly and put aside.

Beat a couple of nice organic eggs. Once again, if you are making a large version, or you want it to be more quiche-like ie: eggy, throw in a few more. Add a pinch salt (the fetta is usually pretty salty so use a light hand), pepper and grate in a little nutmeg. Doesn’t that nutmeg smell wonderful! Whisk the eggs and seasoning together.

Assemble your pie fillings. Mix the leeks and spinach in a bowl and crumble in some fetta cheese. Stir through the beaten eggs – enough to generously coat the vegetables. By now your crust should be cooked. If you want a crispier crust leave it longer, but put some baking paper over it so the top doesn’t burn. Spoon the topping on the potato base and put into a moderate-warm oven (180-200c depending on the vagaries of your appliance.

So far so good!

I checked the oven after 15 minutes (I was guessing cooking time would take 25-35 minutes) but to my horror found the oven had turned itself off. It was one of those days, the plumbing was playing up and I’d had to turn the water off at the mains as well.

Oven reignited, I left it to cook. So sorry, no exact cooking time – presuming your oven is working, check at about 25 minutes and take it from there. It is done when the egg is set.

Despite the great ingredients, I was poised for disaster when I took it out of the oven. It smelt great, looked good and I was pleasantly surprised - tasted even better. The base was more soft than crunchy, but was a good foil to the saltiness of the fetta. The vegetable/egg/cheese mix was remarkably creamy. I have to say – it turned out a winner.

The only failure of the night was my food lack-of-styling and photography. In too much of a hurry as always. This doesn’t do the dish justice, looks more like scrambled eggs, but just use your imagination.



(promising to style and focus better next time :)

fish cakes

Key words:
tired
hungry
gluten-free
dairy-free
fish
yum

The flathead tails from the market sat in the fridge with dreams of being a thai curry. Sometime in the afternoon dinner for 2 turned solo and creative energies were sidetracked into my first foray in consulting a builder about renovating the house. For far too long I have cooked in something that is barely a kitchen – a cranky stove, a sink at dwarf height (thankfully I am only a smidge over being a midget), a total lack of storage or bench space. Worst of all no adequate room for a table big enough to sit around with friends and enjoy long meals. The dynamic design and build duo filled my heads with amazing possibilities that involved ‘rearranging my envelope’ so to speak, or more niftily how I can do more without actually knocking down the back and getting building permits, a huger mortgage and other such inconveniences.

By the time I was left to my own devices my mind was spinning. A curry was not going to be made because I wanted food and I needed it now. I looked at the flathead and thought “its fish, its fast” while the seafood addict cat almost knocked me over with enthusiasm. The feline got sashimi and I the speediest fish cakes on the simplest salad.

Quick Thai Fish Cakes
Fish fillets
Good quality red (or whatever colour you prefer) Thai curry paste
A slurp or two of fish sauce
A spring onion, sliced

Place the above ingredients in a food processor and whiz. Reserve half the spring onions to throw in for the final pulse, so they keep their shape.

Now I know some of you are going to comment as to quantities. The amount of paste depends on the strength you are using. Some of the more gourmet ones you get in punnets from the chiller I find are quite oily and sloppy and don’t always pack much of punch. Desired quantity of punch depends on the individual. I use about 1 tsp of Mae ploy red curry paste/per 100 g of fish.

How much fish you need, depends on whether this is finger food to have with drinks (roll into balls and serve with some good quality chilli sauce for dipping), entrée (smallish discs) or in this case main (mini burger size). For a main count on about 200-250g fish per person depending on appetite.
With damp hands shape into desired size and shallow fry in a mild oil (raw sesame, peanut etc) til golden on each side.

I served this on a huge bed of rocket with diced tomato, cucumber and a little chilli as a relish. The rocket was otherwise naked, but the juices from the fish cakes gave it a delightful flavour.

As I cleaned up I picked at the residue left in the pan. It tasted all caramalized and amazing, and my head spun with thoughts of deglazing..with what? Rice vinegar perhaps and then what? But I was too tired for such flights of fancy.

Though surprisingly a while later I found myself a tad peckish. In 30 seconds a couple of yellow peaches were halved, dotted with a bit of organic butter and sprinkled with brown sugar. The sat under a hot grill for about 6 minutes and were unbelievably fabulous. Why on earth hadn’t done this before? I took a modest bow.

* variations – chopped snake or round beans are probably more traditional than spring onions. Fresh ginger or chilli can be good too to give it a kick. Tofu, squeezed out and crumbled can be combined with the fish to double the mixture when you need it to go further (trust me, the don’t notice).

Update
I had a little of the uncooked mixture left over. The next night I looked for some fish stock in the freezer but was out of it - so just simmered a bit of ginger, chilli, shitake mushroom, spring onions and green beans in water, with fishcake mix rolled into balls. At the last minute I added some fresh rice noodles. I tasted the broth expecting it to need lots of seasoning but the fish cake flavours had come through strongly - it just needed a dash of fish sauce. A wonderful easy spicy fish ball soup with noodles.