happiness is…..
….cooking your first meal in your first real oven in your first beautiful proper kitchen. we had a very lazy saturday, so dinner was an uncomplicated affair of proper macaroni cheese with a decadent gratin topping. i’m very serious about making white sauce….it has to be cooked forever, very low, with plenty of stirring. and [...]
zucchinis
our garden has been producing insane amounts of stuff, in particular zucchinis.i dealt with the kilos of beans by eating and then freezing.the zucchinis just keep coming, however. we’ve made fritters….fritattas….muffins….bread…grilled salads….stuffed zukes.i am now ready to grate and freeze bags of them, just to move them along.finally, a use for all those small thin [...]
zucchinis
our garden has been producing insane amounts of stuff, in particular zucchinis.i dealt with the kilos of beans by eating and then freezing.the zucchinis just keep coming, however. we’ve made fritters….fritattas….muffins….bread…grilled salads….stuffed zukes.i am now ready to grate and freeze bags of them, just to move them along.finally, a use for all those small thin [...]
it’s like christmas
this afternoon a couple of boxes of loot arrived from the USA…..stuff we had posted home to ourselves. along with 24 litres of maple syrup (a grade, dark amber), we unpacked a couple of microplane graters….a huge copper oval roasting dish…many small solid stainless steel whisks (for soapmaking!)…a load of magnetic spice tins from IKEA….some [...]
it’s like christmas
this afternoon a couple of boxes of loot arrived from the USA…..stuff we had posted home to ourselves. along with 24 litres of maple syrup (a grade, dark amber), we unpacked a couple of microplane graters….a huge copper oval roasting dish…many small solid stainless steel whisks (for soapmaking!)…a load of magnetic spice tins from IKEA….some [...]
meatloaf
i made this one in about eight minutes flat tonight.while it was cooking, i made a salad, washed the day’s dishes and watched some tv. pre-heat oven to 180 Celsius. you need:700g good beef mincea free range egga cup and a half of breadcrumbsa biiiig splash of worcestershire sauce (we prefer lea & perrins)a biiiiiig [...]
meatloaf
i made this one in about eight minutes flat tonight.while it was cooking, i made a salad, washed the day’s dishes and watched some tv. pre-heat oven to 180 Celsius. you need:700g good beef mincea free range egga cup and a half of breadcrumbsa biiiig splash of worcestershire sauce (we prefer lea & perrins)a biiiiiig [...]
manuka chai….an homage to 42 below
i’ve been working on a delicious new cocktail recently.i am not normally a cocktail drinker….but i’ve been drinking a lot of chai tea lately….and a bottle of manuka vodka arrived in the house….and we always have manuka honey on hand…..so things just kind of snowballed.as they do. you need to make a strong sweet chai [...]
manuka chai….an homage to 42 below
i’ve been working on a delicious new cocktail recently.i am not normally a cocktail drinker….but i’ve been drinking a lot of chai tea lately….and a bottle of manuka vodka arrived in the house….and we always have manuka honey on hand…..so things just kind of snowballed.as they do. you need to make a strong sweet chai [...]
elephants and cookery
yesterday, we went back to the mae sa elephant camp, about 40 mins out of chiang mai.we visited there 6 years ago and could hardly believe how the place has changed.the first indication was the piles of enormous chinese tourist buses lined up outside…. six years ago, it was a rough little camp with maybe [...]
elephants and cookery
yesterday, we went back to the mae sa elephant camp, about 40 mins out of chiang mai.we visited there 6 years ago and could hardly believe how the place has changed.the first indication was the piles of enormous chinese tourist buses lined up outside…. six years ago, it was a rough little camp with maybe [...]
the pasta salad
this has been the thing to make for dinner lately.it’s been HOT and HUMID and nobody really wants to eat hot food and nobody really wants to cook. you’ll need, per person:*1 cup cooked penne or spirals or shells*1 cup mixed vegies…..we’ve enjoyed cooked broccoli/red onion/red capsicum/tomato/peas….it’s a colourful mix with some textural interest*1/2 cup [...]
the pasta salad
this has been the thing to make for dinner lately.it’s been HOT and HUMID and nobody really wants to eat hot food and nobody really wants to cook. you’ll need, per person:*1 cup cooked penne or spirals or shells*1 cup mixed vegies…..we’ve enjoyed cooked broccoli/red onion/red capsicum/tomato/peas….it’s a colourful mix with some textural interest*1/2 cup [...]
frrruit cake
i have to share this amazing fruitcake recipe….i am eating a slice right now with a cup of black tea and it is as dark and fragrant and rich and moist as peaty loam. or loamy peat.allow two days for this. or start it early and bake it late. you need:1 cup water1 kg mixed [...]
frrruit cake
i have to share this amazing fruitcake recipe….i am eating a slice right now with a cup of black tea and it is as dark and fragrant and rich and moist as peaty loam. or loamy peat.allow two days for this. or start it early and bake it late. you need:1 cup water1 kg mixed [...]
midwinter daube of beef
the weather continues to be miserable here, and this type of ongoing drizzle and chill requires serious food.liam gave me a kilo of ox cheeks earlier, and shouted a recipe after me as i was departing. this is what i’ve done and it smells magnificent so far. 1 kilo ox cheeks2 brown onions4 carrots2 celery [...]
summery pasta salad
we enjoyed this immensely this evening.it’s a sort of warm pasta salad, dressed with pesto and a little olive oil and red wine vinegar, with loads of vegies. firstly, make 1/2 cup of your favourite pesto recipe.i made mine with fresh basil leaves, fresh garlic, freshly grated parmesan, plenty of olive oil and a couple [...]
still wet and wretched
will this weather never end? my brother was over here all morning and the three frustrated motorcyclists all sat around and looked out at the grim grey drizzly no-end-in-sight weather and moaned to each other.none of us ever really thought about the weather before we got motorbikes, and now it’s the only thing we think [...]
dinner party 6/6/07
we have friends coming for dinner tonight.we are doing some initial planning for our march 08 trip to india and getting riotous with the widow clicquot. three guys and me, so the menu is big and simple. we’re having veuve clicquot NV, rockford’s alicante bouchet, and st hallet’s faith shiraz. i got these truly amazing [...]
rainy days and soap and stuff
in spite of quite wet weather this late in the year, we had two excellent markets in a row.another stall holder (she sells the cutest hand-painted umbrellas and gumboots! big happy flowers and rainbows), heading south for tomorrow’s mission beach market was kind enough to call me and let me know it was POURING wet [...]
anzac day project
i picked these today…..there are about thirty kilograms of chillies out there to harvest.here’s the real joke: they are all self-sown from last year.we planted a few types of chillies and they just went mental and took over.these are a bit past their prime, but will be fine for sauce.i think tomorrow will be chilli [...]
hard vegetable salads
someone asked me, what IS a hard vegetable salad?a salad with a gun and an attitude?not so.it’s a salad based on hard vegetables: carrots, celery, fennel, capsicums, onions.we’ve been living on these things lately.a few days on salads certainly make you feel frisky and clear-eyed and sweet-breathed. firstly, i get some baby rocket and baby [...]
cincinatti chili
i made this tonight: Ingredients 2 T olive oil 2 rashers bacon 1 1/2 cups onion, chopped 1 cup green or red capsicum pepper, chopped (optional) 500g minced lean beef 1 425g can chopped tomatoes 1 425g can tomato puree 120g tomato paste 1 425g can kidney beans 1 425g can cannellini beans 200g corn [...]
