i n e r t i a

In bed.

I am quite well thanks. Between the sheets is where I want to be right now. Actually lets clarify the time frame, now means the last couple of months. It is cold outside and the sunlight unreliable. Inside with the cat purring, competing with the macbook for my lap. A high thread count, warm, cotton cocoon.

Not lot of cooking goes on in the bedroom. I am ambivalent about what may be eaten in bed as well. Nothing too crunchy or crumbly. Something that can be consumed with a fork, a spoon or one hand. Nothing drippy or too liquid.

Spurred on by Kathryn’s challenge, you know the one that has synchronistically had many local bloggers excavating the nether regions of their pantries, I had barley for breakfast. I bought it on a long ago spring clean, no doubt with a thick veggie soup, stew or maybe some kind of risotto like concoction in mind. It never happened. Well barley porridge may work for her but it got a definite thumbs down in this house. Well soaked, adequately cooked, jazzed up with a little rice milk, maple syrup, passionfruit and a few slices of banana. The fruit made it bearable but it was boring. Good texture but bland.

Back to the drawing board.

I love oats or quinoa as warm breakfast cereals. I am tempted to make a much forgotten recipe from the Atomic Cafe Cookbook that features cornmeal and dried apricots. I may even consider millet. Buckwheat? Maybe not, surely eating something grey for breakfast on a cloudy day would tempting the blahs just a little too much.

Has anyone found the ultimate winter’s breakfast?

What do you like to eat in bed?

Creamy quinoa with banana, cinnamon and almonds

I’m in love!

Well, not just sneakingly with Bret from Flight of the Conchords but another foreign import.

Quinoa is a seedy/grain with when cooked is soft yet yields a subtle crunch. I have previously explored red and white quinoa in savoury recipes such as stuffed artichokes and a simple pilaf but thanks to a recent post from fellow quinoa-lover Heidi at 101 cookbooks I realised it was time to explore what this grain could offer with a little sweetness.

There is a delightful evolution that occurs through the sharing of recipes. Heidi’s starting point was a quinoa berry breakfast featured in Dr John La Puma's “Chef MD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine”, which she shared with us as her version of a warm and nutty cinnamon quinoa recipe. Being the opposite of blackberry season in this part of the world I changed the fruit, nuts, sweetener and milk to what was on hand. The method is the same, yet each combination creates another possibility of flavours.

The second star to this mighty breakfast (or healthy dessert) is a little cassia bark. I’ve always preferred the flavour of the bark found in my favourite Asian grocery store, over the dusty, milder quills of cinnamon from the supermarket. The tougher, gutsier cassia is easily grated with a microplane or grater, so sprinkling is over this cereal is dead easy. Cassia lifts this dish onto an even higher plane, not just in taste but also in health benefits. Latest research shows this versatile herb not only eases digestive upsets but is very promising in lowering blood glucose in diabetes as well as neutralising a few rogue triglycerides.



I see no need for 1% or low fat milk as the original recipe calls for. Basically you are diluting your white fluid of choice 50:50 with water, which inherently renders it lower in fat. Soy milk, if you are not allergic to it, is a pleasant way to get a dose of phyto-oestrogens (a preventer, rather than promoter of breast cancer as it has often been mis-reported), rice or oat milk would do but only resort to cows milk if you lack imagination or resources. While keeping to the original quantities there is one other variation, this made a hearty breakfast for 2 rather than 4 and kept us going all day! Every mouthful was met with mutual groans of joy. This is my new favourite cereal for breakfast, making it a great gluten-free and dairy-free way to start the days

Tip: Always wash your quinoa before using it. If you don’t the bitter residue left on the grain will make you wonder why people rave about this rather expensive addition to the pantry.

Creamy quinoa with bananas, cinnamon and almonds

1 cup soy, or other milk of your choice
1 cup water
1 cup quinoa (red or white, it doesn’t matter which but I made this with red quinoa because it looks so pretty) rinsed well
1/2 – 1 tsp cassia bark or cinnamon, try grating it yourself for freshness
a handful of almonds, cut into slivers with a sharp knife
1 banana
a drizzle of maple syrup

Combine the milk, water and quinoa in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. While doing this if you have a gas cook top, warm a heat diffuser mat on another burner. Once boiling stir well, cover and transfer the pan to the heat mat (if not just turn the heat down to low). Simmer for about 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Add slices of banana and a generous sprinkle of cassia/cinnamon, stir through the quinoa, turn the heat off and leave the pan covered for another 5 minutes. Meantime, toast the slivered almonds in a hot pan until they begin to turn brown. Shake frequently and remember to remove from the pan from the heat the moment the almonds are done to prevent burning.

Spoon the quinoa into the bowls, garnish with another slice of banana, toasted almonds and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Take a deep breath and dive in!




This week’s Weekend Herb Blogging is hosted by Laurie at Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska. Check out her site in a couple of days to see the full round up of herb and vegetable recipes from around the globe.

cooking for the not so young or restless

A belated welcome to another year of all things food! I’ve been recovering from a rather difficult trip to my homeland. In the past such festive visits have featured much eating and drinking, with special treats like my mum’s chocolate mousse and rhubarb stewed fresh from the garden. There’d be lemons on the tree (that never really thrived but provided just enough) and plenty of fresh parsley in the herb patch. Though the house and people are still there, nothing is left of the garden. My mother is not well and thoroughly over producing 3 meals a day for my now retired father.

I took on a week or 2 of caring for my parents. Finding a balance of small treats to tempt one ailing appetite and another ferociously hungry from neglect. A small wedge of omelette with a touch of salad on one plate and a large slice on the other with grilled bacon. My father craving meat after too many dinners of frozen fish fingers and peas, while my mother could barely stomach any flesh foods.

As a child I’d read home nursing books, ancient tomes from a bygone era. The pages were musty. They talked of strict routines and ridiculous rules. I remember giggling at their archaic protocols. As silly as it was, we have lost the concept of convalescence and caring for an ‘invalid’. Though the types of foods suggested back then would turn my stomach – blancmange, things in aspic and lots of insipid white food. For now my quest was encouraging someone as they aged to find easy but nutritious choices. While plating food for my mother, the advice of small serves on a pretty plate, came back to me. Ultimately she would eat twice as much if it were divided into half serves, casually asking if she’d like a little more.

In a supermarket I found some delicious vacuum packed varieties of smoked fish in the refrigerator. The kingfish was firm fleshed and I would have preferred to toss it through a salad of mixed lettuce with a tangy citrus dressing. For the older generation I knew it would need to be cooked and certainly if salad was to be made it could only have ‘real’, aka iceberg, lettuce. Abandoning my own desires, I substituted the smoked kingfish for the smoky bacon my mother had used in the past for a delicious home fried rice dish. It went down a treat and they barely noticed I’d slipped in a few more vegetables than they were used to. The next week, I used some smoked blue cod in a classic kedgeree, alarmed when I found the very old container of Madras curry powder for the only seasoning but relieved when despite its age it still packed a delicious punch. Both dishes were a winner, pleasing all ends of the appetite spectrum.

The role reversal was made even more humourous by being the healthy child trying to coax fussy adults to eat more fruit and vegetables. The kedgeree hid finely grated carrot that I’d sautéed with onion and garlic, the colour camouflaged by the turmeric in the curry powder.

Kedgeree Kiwi Style

Other than the carrot (which no one noticed) this looked and tasted like a more traditional version of the dish. For a different version check out this earlier recipe

2 cups cooked basmati rice
1 large onion, finely diced
1-2 carrots, grated
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon Madras curry powder (or similar, quantity to taste)
Smoked cod – 100-200 gm per person, cut into smallish pieces
2-3 boiled eggs, quartered
Vegetable oil
Butter

Remember to cook your rice and boil your eggs before starting on the rest of the dish. I cook rice by the absorption method – bringing the rice to the boil in twice the quantity of water and simmering for about 12 minutes. Then set aside with lid on to continuing steaming while I start the onion.

Sautee the onion in a large, heavy based fry pan with sufficient oil. Add carrot and garlic then curry powder. On a low heat, add the fish and warm through for a couple of minutes. Add a knob of butter and stir through the still warm, but not at all soggy, rice. The butter helps coat the grains with the spicy sauce. The rice should turn golden from the curry powder. Check the seasoning, add salt if necessary – some smoked fish can be very salty so leave this til last to get the right balance.

Optional: A generous quantity of chopped parsley or coriander is great to add, the best I could do was sprinkle some finely sliced green tops from spring onions.

Top with quartered boiled eggs and lemon if you wish.


Notes on cooking for the sick or the elderly

Use smaller plates. From the remains of their wedding crockery were some lovely entrée (in the English rather than American sense of the word) plates sized between a bread and butter and main course plate, which was perfect.

Don’t crowd the plate, use small portions and if cleared, leave a few minutes and offer a little more.

Peel and cut pieces of fruit into bite sizes – a small bowl of quartered strawberries to nibble on after dinner worked well.

Cut vegetables into small pieces to mix through with other ingredients, rather than heap large chunks of veg on the plate.

Go easy on fats, they are hard to digest and dull the appetite.

Alcohol is another appetite suppressant, try to skip pre-dinner drinks, or use bitter aperitifs in a small glass.

Keep them hydrated. Tea, coffee and alcohol deplete body fluids. Spring water in a medium sized crystal glass with a slice of lemon can look more appealing.

Don’t tip toe over too many eggshells – remember humour can be the best medicine.

Journeying around the web for breakfast

I am a great lover of breakfast. Weekdays require a certain amount of ballast to get me through 6 hours til the next meal. Oats are the queen of sustenance, if you treat them right. Weekends and days off mean fruit if I want to graze, eggs for slow leisurely breakfasting, miso if I need something light but healing.

For something different it may be savoury toppings on sourdough bread – tahini, avocado and lemon juice is nostalgic. For the hippy-deluxe version I add finely sliced radish, chunks of black olives and a sprinkling of alfalfa sprouts to crown the avocado. Sometimes when the sun has ripened them I like tomatoes, sliced and popped back under the griller with lashings of freshly ground black pepper or slowly stewed with garlic and onions. Mushrooms sautéed til the juices run, with a little pepper, parsley and lemon juice. Boiled eggs, chopped with sun dried tomato, spring onions and good quality mayonnaise. Life is too short for a dab of something out of a jar from the supermarket!

Today, being a leisurely holiday in these parts (in a nation obsessed with sport, a city is given a day off for a horse race), I am up for anything. Cruising by Morsels and Musings Anna has paid homage to the joys of breakfast. I am not a huge fan of sweetness for my first meal unless its luscious fruit, but a warm bowl of goodness catches my eye. At 28 cooks breakfast couscous seems just the treat for an inclement holiday.

Follow their recipe – or as I did use the template to create your own version.

Breakfast Couscous Basics
Ratio of grain to liquid =1 3/4 cups fluid: 1/2 cup couscous
handful of dried fruit(s)
sweetness
spices

Bring to a boil. Turn off heat. Sit for 10 minutes

Breakfast Couscous Food Nazi Style
1/2 soy milk:1/2 water
dried cranberries
cinnamon and nutmeg finely grated
rice malt syrup (just a little)

Bring the couscous to a boil in the above concoction.
Turn the heat off, place the lid and go and have a shower.
Top with slices of fresh mango.
Dress optional, but this is a dish that can be eaten easily in bed, the grains deliciously plumped, moist and clinging to the spoon!

Hope your horse is a winner. Even better, forget the flutter and donate to your favourite charity instead.

The Significant Eater

In another venue I muse from time to time about what to call my “significant other”. He’s not a ‘boyfriend’ (a ridiculous term for any man once they reach the age of wearing long trousers), we may or may not live together but whatever our connection it is not about forsaking all others. I often give him the moniker “the not-boyfriend”, while he prefers polyamorous lover.

Here in the world of food all that doesn’t matter. He may be my significant other, but in the kitchen he is my Significant Eater. The one exposed most to my culinary dalliances, and me to his.

I am divided on the equal joys of solo cooking and providing for others. The first allows more experimentation and fewer restrictions. The latter provides feedback and collaboration. Both have their merits. But cooking for your Significant Eater is also about meshing 2 or more peoples likes and dislikes, allergies, intolerances and general pickiness. My SE, being a Gemini, brings a world of unpredictability into to the provision of food. Is this going to be an over the top with lashings of grog type meal, or is it a Food Nazi of a whole different ilk who will sit at the table?

My food fanaticism is consistent. I err on the side of good health, with a little antioxidant rich chocolate and wine for spice. My body doesn’t tolerate most dairy products and for reasons more historical than anything else, I don’t eat meat other than seafood. I detest peas and capsicum – but that’s just a relationship between my mind and tastebuds.

Some days my SE puts my healthy diet to shame, he goes the whole hog and one ups me. Sometimes the food combining enthusiast sits down to sup and out comes a whole other set of culinary rules. On such a day proteins and carbohydrates must not mix. If I am cooking, the request comes for “carbs and veggies” or “protein and veg”. Along with this is the expectation the food is unadulterated with cooked oil and nothing refined will be on the plate.

This weekend, it was the food combining twin that settled into a couple of days of renovating. I’d much prefer to cook than paint (and to be fair, so would he). I’d got it wrong and stocked up on comfort food, not salad. So a bit like the Iron Chef, I took my challenge and ad libbed as best I could.

A tale of 2 salads

Protein and Vegetables

It’s Friday night and this is the plea from the SE who is getting over a nasty flu. With more time a bean rich soup would have hit the spot. Fortunately spring is in the air and salad season is back. The limited protein choices in the pantry include – beans, tofu, eggs or canned fish.

Iron Chef – this is your challenge, in the absence of leafy greens create a salad with tinned salmon that is delicious and nutritious. Your time starts now!

Put some water on to boil and search fridge for vegetables suitable for blanching. In this case it was cauliflower cut into florets and zucchini. Toss into boiling water for a minute or 2. Drain and refresh in iced water.

Find some vegetables suitable to eat raw. Carrots – cut into matchsticks and spring onions finely sliced.

Combine all ingredients and good quality, canned red salmon with a lot of lemon juice and just a dash of olive oil. Season surreptitiously with freshly ground sea salt and pepper.

The dish was delicious. Lots of al dente cauliflower for bulk. Chopped parsley and capers would have been a tasty addition.


Carbohydrates and Vegetables
Carbs in this case was a choice of brown rice or steamed potatoes. I love spuds but find the steamed variety a little bland without lashings of salted butter to sex them up a bit. So this was - Iron Chef brown rice challenge!

Cook brown rice by absorption method, allowing additional time to cool. Blanch the remaining cauliflower.

Rice has a subtle flavour, brown has an additional nuttiness that can be played up with some toasted sesame seed. Technically heating seeds and nuts is not the greatest thing to do health wise – but it tastes good, so dry roast some seeds in a fry pan, shaking constantly so they don’t burn.

Painstakingly de-stone a large handful of olives. It was a labour of love as all I had were tiny wild olives and some only marginally larger Lingurian. Gently press down with the flat blade of a knife to squeeze out the little stone.

Combine the salad dressing so the olives can marinade in it while the rice cooks and cools. Today's dressing - lemon juice, olive oil, lots of crushed garlic, finely chopped organic lemon peel and a touch of Dijon mustard.

Find any remaining raw vegetables to add – spring onions, Lebanese cucumber and a couple of tomatoes, all quite finely diced.

Combine before eating. Season if desired. For non-food combining folk – some tuna tastes great with this!


Result: The resident chef passed both challenges and the Significant Eater did a great job painting the corridor.

Go visit the The Reluctant Housewife for other entries in the Summer Salad Recipes Event (even for us upside down folk who are yet to embrace summer :)

A return to the days of the Empire

It’s been almost 6 months since I sat in the sun at a bay side café and ate the stuff that helped build the British Empire. Back then I swore I’d make it soon. Finally on a less than balmy, Melbourne night I decided this was time for Kedgeree. Though more of a breakfast or brunch dish, who’d turn down smoked fish and rice for dinner?

In usual Food Nazi style the version I created is a synthesis of reading half a dozen recipes, looking in the fridge and adapting to what I had on hand. Some recipes totally omit the Indian element, leaving out the spice. Rarely do you see any with lentils, which the original Kedgeree supposedly had. Some had cream and chicken stock. None feature vegetables, beyond the odd onion. I had no parsley, which universally appears along with rice and smoked fish – so my twist has some crunchy green beans for colour and veggie goodness.

Kedgeree with a twist

(Quantities are approximate – serves 2 as a main or 4 as part of a spread for brunch)
1 cup long grain rice
1-2 eggs, hard boiled
butter – a large knob
a dash of vegetable oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 small red chilli, finely chopped (optional)
1 tablespoon garam marsala
a handful of green beans, topped and tailed (optional)
1 medium smoked trout, picked over for bones and shredded or chopped in chunks
salt, to taste

garnish – spring onions, chives or parsley
wedges of lemon to serve


To begin, cook the rice by the absorption method. This way you have nice dry fluffy rice otherwise the dish will be gluggy.

Boil the eggs. Set aside to cool in cold water.

Add the butter/oil to a large pan. Be generous. Fry off the onion til transparent. Add chilli, garlic and garam marsala. Now throw in the beans. I cooked these for a few minutes, then put a lid on the pan with the heat off while I finished cooking the rice and prepared the fish.

Return the pan to the heat. Start adding in the cooked rice. You may need a little more butter, as this carries the spices through the bland rice. Season to taste with sea salt (pepper too if you skipped the chilli). Stir through the flaked fish. Add chopped hard boiled eggs and garnishes.

Eat warm.

Verdict – totally addictive!

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.

sip and stir

Yesterday I finally cleared enough space to think about cooking. There is nothing over the top about this little kitchen, it’s small but functional. The appliances are very simple, not top of the range, just built to do their job. There was little in the fridge beyond some leftover champagne and butter. My neighbour had dropped off a strange care package of 2 shallots, a large chilli, some chives and a stick of lemongrass. While out I found some perfect looking swiss browns, so mushroom and champagne risotto it would have to be.

Risotto is something I can take or leave, but it is warm and comforting food. I rarely order it when dinning out – too often a "vegetarian" version uses chicken stock and it is usually drenched in butter and cheese. There is something reassuring about having the time to stand at the stove and stir a pot, and this seemed a good way to get into the groove of my new place to cook.

Do I really need to write a risotto recipe? It’s such a simple process. It requires a little patience, so have some good company to sip a drink with or crank up an entertaining playlist on the pod.

Mushroom and champagne risotto

Finely slice some shallots or onions and cook in some olive oil til soft.
Add some crushed garlic and stir
Toss in some sliced mushrooms (whatever variety takes your fancy) and cook for a minute or 2
Add handfuls of uncooked Arborio rice, stir til coated with oil
Splash in some champagne (about a cup)
Now ladle in some warm vegetable stock*
Stir
If you like, add some chopped sun dried tomatoes (I know they are considered pretty naff these days but they add colour and little bursts of salty flavour)
Have a drink
Stir some more (this took about 20 minutes)
When the grains of rice seem just cooked, throw in some chives, season with salt and pepper. Cover firmly with a lid and forget about it for 5-10 minutes (this is a good time to make a green salad).

Stir through a knob of butter and it is ready to serve.



It tasted fabulous. I go for a consistency that is neither soupy, nor dry and this was just perfect. The champagne gave the mushrooms an extra dimension without being overpowering.

* to be honest I just used a low salt, msg-free stock cube dissolved in boiling water (shock horror) straight from the jug – not actually simmering away on the stove. Guess what? It was just fine.

..and the first thing she cooked was

I have a new kitchen. Slowly I am finding homes for life's little essentials. Fiddling around with spots for pots and pans (the middle, wide, pull out drawer of the ‘pantry’ seems to do the trick) and working out places for the spices. Amidst the chaos I’ve barely been able to see the granite bench top, so no real cooking yet. Saturday was spent ushering visitors through and drinking champagne, as you do. So yesterday it was down to business. Outside Melbourne was damp and grey. I needed a hearty breakfast to set me up for a hard day’s work and that was a job that only porridge could fill.

As a child I liked only super smooth oatmeal. It cooked in a moment and would be augmented with spoonfuls of brown sugar and little puddles of milk, cream if I was really lucky. These days my tastes have definitely changed. I like chunky, whole rolled oats, slowly cooked and definitely no moo! It's a creamy soymilk for me. When I am mindful, I set up the pot the night before – 1/2-1 cup of oats and twice as much water. Sometimes I will throw in a handful of sultanas or dried cranberries. Overnight it will soak, which allows the grains to puff up and it needs a lot less cooking in the morning.

In a pinch, if I have forgotten to spend 30 seconds setting this up before bed, I will cover oats with boiling water in the morning, stick the lid on firmly and let them steep for 10 minutes or so to soften before cooking.

The trick to cooking porridge is a heat diffuser mat. Don’t talk to me about microwaves – it brings out the food nazi in me! Even if the oats are soaked they still don’t taste as good. Turn one of the burners on low and let the mat heat up. On another, bring the soaked oats to a simmer. You will usually need more fluid; I tend to add soy rather than water, as it makes it taste creamier. Once the oats are barely simmering, give them a stir and place the pot on the diffuser mat, leave on low and go have a shower. They don’t stick to the pot and by the time you have finished, the porridge is ready to eat.

Ode to oatmeal

1 part rolled oats
2 parts fluid eg: water, milk, soy, rice milk, cream, juice, coconut milk
A handful of dried fruit (optional)

Soak over night and cook as directed.

Top with milk and sweet treats as desired.


plain old fashioned porridge for the lactose intolerant

Sweet treat extras:
Maple syrup
Rice malt
Apple or pear juice concentrate
Homemade jam
Passionfruit
Stewed fruit
Grated apple
LSA (linseed, sunflower and almond meal)

*Passionfruit and maple syrup make a great combo

Grainy variation
Add leftover, cooked brown rice to the oats - it makes a nuttier and even more delicious porridge.

Enjoy!